Real, anonymous reports from people who interviewed for Software Engineer at Zulily, newest first and distilled into what to expect across the loop.
I started with a recruiter phone screen, and about a week later I was pulled into a technical session and then straight into an onsite day. The onsite was a marathon: five back-to-back interviews without much breathing room. Three rounds were coding, and the problems felt like medium LeetCode-style tasks. There was also a behavioral round where they asked questions about how I work and what kind of situations I’ve handled before, and the last part was system design.
My process began with a recruiter conversation, then I had a call with the hiring manager. After that, the full loop felt classic and tightly packed: two coding rounds, one system design round, and then an extra round focused on PM/culture fit. One coding round skewed toward front-end, while the other leaned more into data structures and algorithms.
The interview process typically starts with a recruiter call followed by a technical phone screen, leading into a full-day onsite with multiple rounds, often including coding, system design, and behavioral interviews. Candidates should expect a tightly packed schedule, often with five or more interviews in a single day.
Candidates will face multiple coding rounds focused on algorithms and data structures, often resembling medium-level LeetCode problems. Expect a mix of coding challenges and system design discussions, with varying levels of difficulty and expectations based on the interviewer's style.
Behavioral interviews are a significant part of the process, assessing candidates' past experiences and cultural fit. Interviewers may focus on communication style and team dynamics, which can heavily influence the outcome, sometimes overshadowing technical performance.
The demeanor and engagement level of interviewers can vary significantly, impacting the candidate's experience. Some candidates reported friendly and supportive interactions, while others faced interruptions or a lack of engagement, which affected their performance and overall impression of the process.
Candidates often experienced delays in feedback and communication throughout the process, leading to frustration and uncertainty. Clear and timely communication from recruiters and interviewers is inconsistent, with some candidates feeling left in the dark post-interview.
The overall difficulty of the interviews is generally perceived as average, but candidates often felt that their technical abilities were not the sole focus of the evaluation. Many left without offers, feeling that subjective fit assessments played a significant role in the decision-making process.