Chewy·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate

May 2026

Summary

Chewy software engineer interview that went pretty deep on a single project. The whole thing was basically one long question that kept branching into testing specifics, which I wasn't fully prepared for.

Questions Asked (1)

Walk me through your most recent project: what you built, your technical role, and then go deep on your testing approach including what types of tests you wrote, how you decided what to cover, your test-to-code ratio, and how testing affected your confidence in delivery.

Technical Trade-offsSystem DesignRoot Cause Analysis

Author's notes

Started fine talking about the project itself but then the pivot to testing caught me off guard.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start with a concise overview of the project, your role, and the tech stack, then dive deep into your testing strategy. Structure your answer to show how testing decisions were driven by risk, business impact, and trade-offs, and conclude with how testing influenced your confidence and delivery.

Pro tip: Quantify your testing impact where possible (e.g., 'reduced production bugs by 40%') and be honest about what you didn't test and why, showing you understand trade-offs. Also, relate your testing approach to the user experience, especially for a customer-centric company like Chewy.

1. Project Overview and Your Role

Briefly describe the project's purpose, the team size, and your specific technical contributions. Highlight the tech stack and any unique challenges.

2. Testing Strategy and Types

Explain the types of tests you wrote (unit, integration, end-to-end, etc.) and the tools/frameworks used. Justify why you chose those types based on the project's needs.

3. Coverage Decisions and Test-to-Code Ratio

Discuss how you decided what to test, focusing on critical paths, high-risk areas, and business logic. Mention your test-to-code ratio and whether it was a conscious decision or driven by constraints.

4. Impact on Confidence and Delivery

Describe how your testing approach affected your confidence in shipping, including any metrics (e.g., bug reduction, deployment frequency). Share a specific instance where testing caught a critical issue.

5. Lessons Learned and Trade-offs

Reflect on what you would do differently, balancing testing thoroughness with speed. Show awareness of trade-offs and how you prioritize testing in future projects.

Key Points to Mention

Specific testing types (unit, integration, E2E) and tools (Jest, JUnit, Selenium, etc.)
How you prioritized tests based on risk and business impact
Test-to-code ratio and its rationale (e.g., 1:1, 2:1) and how it evolved
Metrics or outcomes that demonstrate testing effectiveness (e.g., reduced bugs, faster releases)
Trade-offs between testing and delivery speed, and how you communicated them
Alignment with Chewy's customer-centric values (e.g., testing for reliability and user experience)

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.