Salesforce SMTS Frontend Interview Experience

I applied for the Senior Member of Technical Staff (Frontend) role through the Salesforce career site. My application was acknowledged, and I received a recruiter call after about 3-4 days.

Round 1: Online HackerRank Assessment (60 minutes)

This round required me to solve two coding questions to proceed. I encountered a graph-based problem and a dynamic programming problem focused on strings, which I completed.

Round 2: Hiring Manager Round (45 minutes)

This round covered a mix of topics. We discussed my current work experience, including my tech stack and cultural fit. We also delved into frontend performance, specifically: what FPS is, why it's important, and which CSS properties to avoid animating, favoring transform and opacity for better performance. A system design problem was presented: to design the "Send message" functionality on Slack, including user tagging, UI component design, and communication protocols. Finally, we discussed Canvas and its performance benefits.

Round 3: JS, HTML, CSS and React Fundamentals (60 minutes)

This was a comprehensive frontend fundamentals round. I was asked about semantic HTML and its benefits, the differences between Flexbox and Grid, and how to implement responsive layouts using media queries and relative sizes. In JavaScript, I explained call, apply, and bind, and was asked to write a polyfill for bind. Other JS topics included the Critical Rendering Path, CSSOM, and the Event Loop. For React, the questions covered forwardRef and useImperativeHandle, designing a data model for a chat application, understanding and fixing props drilling, and the benefits of Client Side Rendering. The round concluded with questions on web performance, such as different resource hinting techniques and how to improve INP.

Round 4: System Design - Google Maps (60 minutes)

The challenge was to design maps.google.com. This was a highly interactive discussion, not about finding a single right answer. We explored various aspects like Canvas vs. DOM rendering, tile-based rendering, Level of Detail (LOD) based on zoom, and techniques like debouncing/throttling for gestures. We also touched upon state management, caching strategies, and the design of various APIs such as Tile, Geocoding, Directions, Places, and real-time data APIs. User interactions, web workers for heavy computations, responsive design, keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and error tracking were also part of the discussion. The interviewer was very helpful and guided me when I got stuck.

Round 5: System Design - WhatsApp Web (60 minutes)

I was asked to design web.whatsapp.com. Having studied this problem before, I felt confident and the discussion flowed well with the lead engineer. We explored some new scenarios presented by the interviewer, and I was able to propose viable approaches.

Round 6: Culture Fit and Collaboration (60 minutes)

This final round focused on behavioral aspects. I discussed how I handle conflicts, specifically conflicts with a QA team. I also shared an experience where I pushed a bug to production, detailing the RCA process, adding E2E tests, and other mitigation steps taken. Another question involved a scenario where I had to work with a difficult colleague and how I managed the situation. There were a few more general cultural questions as well.

I am delighted to share that I received an offer for the Senior Member of Technical Staff (Frontend) role!