Zeta SDE-1 (Frontend) Interview Experience | 22 LPA Offer 🚀

Overview

This document outlines the interview process for a Software Development Engineer-1 (Frontend) position at Zeta. The process involved three rounds designed to assess the candidate's technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit. The candidate successfully secured an offer of 22 LPA.

Interview Rounds

Round 1: Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA)

This round focused on evaluating the candidate's problem-solving approach and ability to optimize solutions. The emphasis was on clear communication of the thought process, consideration of trade-offs between brute force and optimized solutions, and handling edge cases effectively. The candidate was expected to explain their reasoning and approach the interviewer as a teammate rather than an adversary.

Round 2: Machine Coding

This round began with a discussion of the candidate's past projects, focusing on the rationale behind technology choices, decision-making processes, and how mistakes were addressed. The practical component involved building a reusable, configurable search bar component with a dropdown. The round assessed core frontend fundamentals (state management, events, rendering), UI/UX considerations (cleanliness, intuitiveness, user-friendliness), component design (reusability, props, extensibility), and code quality under pressure (naming, structure, edge case handling). The candidate ensured the component was configurable, handled empty and loading states, verbalized considerations for performance optimization, and prioritized code maintainability.

Round 3: Hiring Manager

This round combined behavioral, technical, and cultural fit assessments. The discussion covered past work experiences, problem-solving methodologies, and teamwork skills. Example questions included:

• Describing a major technical challenge and the lessons learned.
• Handling team conflicts.
• Approaching UI/UX design without a dedicated design team.
• Prioritizing tasks when high-priority tasks clash with production issues.
• Evaluating and improving website performance (Core Web Vitals, Lighthouse audits, bundle splitting, lazy loading, caching, real-user metrics).
• Defining ownership within a team (impact, bug ownership, documentation, system-wide thinking).

The interviewer also assessed the candidate's understanding of CSS principles, including layouts, positioning, responsive design, and common pitfalls.

Key Takeaways

The interview process evaluated the candidate's ability to think clearly and optimize solutions (DSA round), build production-ready components under constraints (Machine Coding round), and integrate into the team while demonstrating ownership (Hiring Manager round). Preparation should involve practicing DSA problems with a focus on explaining the thought process, building solid frontend components, and reflecting on past experiences to craft compelling narratives.