i'm a 2025 grad who just finished the Zoom new grad SWE loop and wanted to document this because when I was prepping I couldn't find a single solid 2025 or 2026 data point. everything was from 2021-2022.
the loop Recruiter screen -> online assessment (2 LC problems, 75 min) -> phone screen with engineer (1 LC + discussion, 45 min) -> virtual onsite (3 rounds, 4.5 hours total)
online assessment: both problems were medium difficulty. one array/hashmap problem, one string manipulation. nothing graph-heavy. they use HackerRank. the environment isn't great, practice on HackerRank specifically if you can.
phone screen: you get one coding problem and then a 10-15 min discussion about your background. i got a sliding window problem. they care that you can communicate while coding. i got asked "why Zoom" explicitly, prepare an actual answer, not just "i love video calls."
onsite: three rounds coding round 1: two mediums, 45 min. i got a BFS traversal and a DP problem. i finished both with about 5 min left. ran through time/space complexity unprompted which they seemed to like. coding round 2: one medium-hard. heap + sorting. I almost didn't finish but the interviewer said working through the approach out loud mattered. i think i got partial credit on the solution. behavioral round: not an afterthought. they asked 4 or 5 questions. leadership, conflict, failure, impact. for a new grad they calibrate expectations but they still want real examples, not hypotheticals. use internship stories.
what I wish I'd done differently: more DP practice. also prepped 0 behavioral stories going in because i figured they'd go easy on a new grad. they didn't.
still waiting on the decision, posting this now while it's fresh. will update.