What’s the most challenging/exciting project you have done in the past two years?”

Digital Marketing
#1

Your work should lead the way in any technical interview and Lauren Thompson, Zillow’s Communications Coordinator, says that in addition to technical specifications, Zillow’s interviewers want to see “the innovation [an interviewee] comes out with from the project.” The goal of this technical interview question? To figure out what you’re passionate about, she says.

You should start preparing for this question long before you send out resumes, and a safe bet is to dig into each of your projects as you go to focus on what parts (of web development, app development, etc.) you’re passionate about, what motivates you, and what types of work you want to do in the future.

Then, practice articulating that list, so if an interviewer asks you to explain a project from your portfolio, you’ll have more to say than a simple list of specs.

Your answer might sound like: “I love 8-bit gaming, so I developed a C++ emulator for Chip-8. It combined my interest in digital preservation with getting to dust off my Tetris and Pac-Man skills. I’m looking forward to applying some of the C++ tricks I used to more projects in the future.”