DE Shaw vs Zenefits Interview Questions
DE Shaw lists 105 LeetCode interview questions while Zenefits lists 21. They share 8 problems — 8% of DE Shaw's bank and 38% of Zenefits's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 97 DE Shaw-only and 13 Zenefits-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 8 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both DE Shaw and Zenefits.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add DE Shaw-specific problems like Binary Tree Cameras, Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements, Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting and Zenefits-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: DE Shaw skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
8 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both DE Shaw and Zenefits.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Majority Element | Easy |
| Sliding Window Maximum | Hard |
| Excel Sheet Column Title | Easy |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
Unique to DE Shaw (97)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Zenefits.
Unique to Zenefits (13)
Problems in Zenefits's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Graph Valid Tree | Medium |
| Reverse Linked List | Easy |
| Course Schedule | Medium |
| Course Schedule II | Medium |
| Generate Parentheses | Medium |
| Min Stack | Medium |
| Majority Element II | Medium |
| Convert Sorted List to Binary Search Tree | Medium |
| N-Queens II | Hard |
| Valid Palindrome | Easy |
| Flatten 2D Vector | Medium |
| Shortest Distance from All Buildings | Hard |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do DE Shaw and Zenefits share?
DE Shaw and Zenefits share 8 LeetCode interview questions. 97 problems appear only in DE Shaw's list and 13 appear only in Zenefits's list.
What topics overlap most between DE Shaw and Zenefits?
The most common shared topics between DE Shaw and Zenefits are Array (5 shared questions), Stack (2 shared questions), String (2 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions), Divide and Conquer (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: DE Shaw or Zenefits?
DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. Zenefits has 5 Easy, 11 Medium, and 5 Hard questions. DE Shaw has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both DE Shaw and Zenefits?
Start with the 8 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 DE Shaw-specific and 13 Zenefits-specific questions to round out your prep.