Senior Software Engineer (At HotPads) Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
Process
I was connected with them through a third-party recruiter.
After a call with their internal recruiter, I spoke with the boss of the HotPads brand, who is one of its founders, to further discuss the opportunities and technologies they use.
After that, I was emailed a text file with a Java problem to analyze and solve.
Within a couple of days, I was scheduled for an onsite interview (3 hours, 6 people) and received a job offer a couple of days after that.
Overall, I was surprised at the quickness of the process for such a well-known company. It seems like HotPads operates more like a startup than as a part of a large company.
Questions
They sent me a text file with a description of a Java problem.
I had to design and implement a solution for it, which required good knowledge of OOP, Java collections, and how to make something reusable and extensible.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Zillow Senior Software Engineer (At HotPads) role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
Zillow's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer (At HotPads) roles in San Francisco, California is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Zillow's Senior Software Engineer (At HotPads) interview process in San Francisco, California.
Zillow Work Experiences
- 5.0Great Benefits, Low PaySoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesSeptember 23, 2025Pros: Great benefits and flexible schedule.Cons: Pay is a bit low for the area.
- 2.0It used to be a good company beforePrincipal Software Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesMarch 19, 2025Pros: Work-Life Balance! Rest & Vest! Stay away from toxic teams!Cons: Up until recently, it used to be a good company. Things started going downhill after ZO shutdown, and really since Rich B took over!
- 1.0Bad management and toxic cultureSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJuly 16, 2020Pros: Good pay and benefits, a modern tech stack in some teams (still a lot of legacy code), free snacks, and used to be free lunch on Fridays only.Cons: Politics and nepotism; nothing is based on performance and what you deliver. It’s based on perception, lies, and backstabbing. Everyone is stepping over each other. Chaotic, always doing unuseful reorganizations. Respect for differences and diversity are non-existent except on the surface. No clear roadmap or direction from management or product managers, especially with the Zillow Offer business. If you are looking to build and support a great product, then this is not the right place for you. Biased, incompetent, and insecure middle management who lack integrity. They work to protect themselves and not those under them, and don't care about their careers. HR knows about that. Turnover is high; a lot of tech people are leaving. Lack of innovation on the tech side. Discretionary time off is not really used. Your manager tells you to have limited days that you can take every year (2-4 weeks), so it's more like PTO. Cost-cutting everywhere, even before COVID-19.
Zillow Interview Questions
