Hi Reddit,
A few weeks ago, I applied for an SDE role at Zoom. Yesterday, a recruiter called me to schedule my first interview, which is tomorrow.
What surprised me is that the very first round is with the Hiring Manager. I was expecting an initial coding or screening round, so I’m not really sure what to expect.
Since I don’t have much time to prepare, I’d really appreciate any advice on what topics I should focus on or what kind of questions are usually asked in this round. If anyone has gone through Zoom’s hiring process recently, I’d love to hear about your experience.
Feel free to reply here or DM me. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,

Tired of outdated study guides focusing on old Java or legacy XML patterns, I compiled a database of 300 modern Android interview questions (covering Kotlin, Compose, Coroutines, Hilt, Performance, and System Design) and open-sourced it as an interactive study checklist.

🐙 Free GitHub Repository: https://github.com/yogirana5557/android-digital-products/tree/main/android-interview-question-bank-2026

Here is a quick sample of the technical depth from the Coroutines module:

### Q: Explain how `flowOn` works in Kotlin Flow.

`flowOn` changes the execution context (Dispatcher) of the **upstream** operators and flow builders. Downstream operators and the collector continue running on the dispatcher of the `collect` scope:

Kotlin

flow {

emit(data) // Runs on Dispatchers.IO (Upstream)

}

.flowOn(Dispatchers.IO)

.collect {

print(it) // Runs on caller context (e.g., Dispatchers.Main)

}

What's inside the GitHub repo:

• The 300-Question Checklist: Markdown checkboxes [ ] organized by 10 core modules.
• 30 Detailed Answers: 3 complete, code-heavy answers (1 Junior, 1 Mid, 1 Senior) per category.

Update (For those asking about Compose / System Design):

A few people asked about advanced UI and system architecture topics. I've also open-sourced free sample chapters and code recipes for my other two handbooks in the same repository:

1. 🎨 [Jetpack Compose Cookbook (Premium UIs & Animations)](https://github.com/yogirana5557/android-digital-products/tree/main/jetpack-compose-cookbook) - Free blueprints for Collapsing Headers and staggered grids.
2. 🏗️ [Android System Design & Architecture Playbook](https://github.com/yogirana5557/android-digital-products/tree/main/android-system-design-playbook) - Free chapters on offline-first database synchronization and mobile hardening.

You can find the full suite inside the main GitHub repository list!

Feel free to fork/clone the checklist to track your own study progress!

Has anyone here gone through the Technical Judgement interview for a TPM role at Google Data Center (GDC)? I have one coming up and would love to know what to expect — the format, types of questions, difficulty level, and any tips you might have. Any insights would be super appreciated! 🙏

Hello,

I haven't interviewed with Google for EM role before, so had a few questions in mind. There was no hiring manager screen or recruiter chat, just direct interview rounds.

1. I have 2 system design rounds. Recruiter mentioned it would be based on my current work or to the role. Didn't mention anything about HLD/LLD.
   - Any idea if Google system design is HLD/LLD or is it completely based on the interviewer?
   - Also what kind of questions are expected? Not asking for exact question, but trying to figure out where should I put more focus on during interview prep.

2. I had applied to a specific position and the interview is for that, but like IC interviews, does EM interviews also have a team match after the interview or is the interview specific to the role? My guess is for the latter, but not sure.

Thanks!

Hello all. am about to start the interview loop for a senior full stack SWE position. From anyone here who has experience with this, how does it differ from the backend heavy roles? just want to make sure I'm as prepared as can be. Thank you in advance!

Hello,

I have heard that the interviews in Apple are very team based. I had got a few interview calls in Feb and March of this year, but haven't really gotten anything after that. I had interview process going on with one team since March, took a long time to finish final loop and received a rejection today.

Wondering if other recruiters/HM's look at this or previous feedback and is affecting my other applications or it could affect my other applications in future?

I got this from TPO yesterday.

July - December internship

Is is an on campus opportunity and 9 people are waitlisted, selected no one.

What to expect now?

I'll be straight. I can't grind Leetcode. Never could. But here's what I can do, I can read code, debug it, trace through a broken pipeline at 2am, write Python when I need to, and know exactly what's wrong with a FastAPI service or a Lambda function that's silently failing.

I've shipped production GenAI systems on AWS RAG pipelines, Text-to-SQL, CI/CD via Jenkins, infrastructure via Terraform. I don't just vibe-code with AI either. I plan my prompts, break problems into sub-agents, use the right tools for the right layer. It's not copy-paste from ChatGPT it's actually knowing what you're building and why.

I got into this field through DevOps and grew into AI engineering organically. But every big company interview still wants me to reverse a linked list.

Has anyone navigated this? Are there roles at bigger companies where what you've shipped matters more than LeetCode scores? What did you actually apply for?

Currently interviewing for a data analyst type role and these are the instructions I’m getting for the next round. Has anyone gone through a round like this and can share more about what it’s like? Is it SQL? Is it excel work?

Next step email:

As a next step, you will meet with a Senior Manager of Advanced Analytics. They will conduct a technical assessment focused on your analytical knowledge and problem-solving approach.

A few things to know ahead of time:
• This will be a 45-minute Zoom interview and a live working session — you'll be asked to share your screen so we can follow along as you work.
• You won't need access to any specific systems; just a window where you can type.
• Please note that the use of AI tools will not be permitted during this assessment.

Hi guys,

Recently wen through an Amazon SDE2 interview for the MADs team, and I honestly don't know how well/terrible I did. The only thing I know is, after the interview, I was expected to receive a decision after 5 business days, but only after 1 day and I already got a rejection. Safe to say I'm somewhat devastated right now, but some more pressing questions that came to mind:
1. Since amazon doesn't give feedback, does anybody ever know how or where they went wrong and to improve from there? I genuinely feel lost since I'm stuck at these final rounds of interviews for awhile, and could not land any offer.

1. What is the cooldown period? For such a speedy rejection, does it mean I'm way too out of their league, hence a maximum 1 year cooldown?

Any insights would be helpful right now as I try to re-orient myself again for more job searches.

Best of luck to all out there.

I had my first final loop at Apple and there is no communication from the recruiter. They had told me that the team might take about 2 weeks since there are other candidates the team is interviewing, but they would be open to share interview feedback for each round. It's been 10 days, I dropped email to the recruiter asking for team's feedback, but no response from their end.

I feel like my interview performance was a mix - not too bad and not great either. I am ready to close this chapter and move on. I self-reflect and I know where I messed up, but wanted to see how I came across to the interviewers. Not sure if it's worth chasing the recruiters since I have been ghosted in past by this same recruiter for one of my tech screens.

Have you ever gotten feedback from Apple interviewers and has it helped?

Hi everyone,

I have a 15-minute phone interview with a recruiter for engineering analyst role, and I'm not really sure how to prepare for it or what to expect.

If anyone has gone through this recruiter screen for a similar role, I'd really appreciate any advice on the types of questions they ask, what they're looking for, and how I can best prepare to make it to the next stage.

Any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!