The process started moving quickly when the recruiter reached out only a few hours after I applied. I was able to pick from a handful of interview slots within the first week. The first was a video screen with the recruiter. They were great, asked standard, high-level "what have you worked on," "how often do you ship code" kind of questions, and some questions I thought provided good insight into what they expect from a coworker at Zapier. The recruiter was able to answer my questions about the day-to-day in the role, the structure of the team, and some of my more general "is this a company and group of people I want to work for/with" questions with actual evidence that they seek to create a healthy work-life balance.

I heard back quickly after the initial screen to set up an interview with the hiring manager. The hiring manager was similarly easy to interview with. They asked good questions, listened, and weren't afraid to stray from the core of what they were getting at. They had good insight into the company and team dynamics, and clearly have considered how to support their reports.

I then got a take-home test. I opted for the backend test. It took 2.5 hours; it's not an especially difficult problem. There is time ahead to set up some of the structure you need so you can focus on writing code. It's an entirely attainable project for someone who has worked on some projects. I managed to get caught up on something I should have solved in the setup prior to getting started on the task itself, and failed to complete it.

Overall, the process made me want to work there more. It's not unusual for other interview processes; after it had been decided I wasn't moving forward, the communication slowed down a bit, but that's a process problem across many companies. Overall, the recruiter was responsive, understanding, and easy to work with, and the manager was someone I would happily work with.

None of the questions were unusual, and because of that, it's probably a disservice to a future interviewee to prepare an answer for what were pretty conversational questions.