I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Zalando in Dec 2014
Interview
After I applied online they sent me an online test of 16 questions. I had 45 min to do it.
3 practical programming exercises and 13 questions.
The teoric questions were:
-java
-sql
-nosql (just theory)
all the practical questions were answered correctly because i tested them in my IDE and the design was good and most of the rest as well cos you can check internet to look for the answers them (java api etc)
however they told me per email they had decided not to go with the process.
i was ok with it but still i kindly asked for a feedback of the test for my own records (to know exactly what i have answered wrong) but i got nothing from them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
there was one exercise to implement a function which takes a number as a parameter "A" and must draw a X of stars and spaces and height "A" for example for A=5
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I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Zalando in Jun 2016
Interview
I was applying to Zalando on position Java back-end Software Engineer in June, 2016.
First it was a call from HR asking general questions about my background and salary expectations.
Then I was given a link to on-line coding challenge (codility.com/candidate-faq), different programming languages were available, I chose C++. Link expired in 4 days, when you started a codding challenge you had 3 tasks and 120 minutes. I solved all 3 tasks in 80 minutes. During the following calls I found out that my solutions passed 100% tests.
After 2 weeks I was contacted by the same HR saying I solved all the tasks perfectly and they were happy to proceed. Next step were 2 skype interviews: one with Senior Software Engineer, second with founder and CTO.
It turned out that I was applying not directly to Zalando, but to Metrigo, a startup in Hamburg recently taken over by Zalando.
Both interviews were relaxed conversations about my background and company technologies. They needed Java Software Engineer, but I was a C++ SE. We agreed it should not be a problem and some transition time might be needed.
As a follow up I got a call from HR offering 50k EUR salary with a possible promotion after I get Java skills.
When I asked how could this salary change after I get Java skills (let's say one year), they cancelled their offer next day and decided not to proceed with me.
All process took 3.5 weeks, online coding challenge, 2 skype interviews, 50k EUR offer, rejection on negotiation phase.
