DE Shaw vs Zeta Interview Questions
DE Shaw lists 105 LeetCode interview questions while Zeta lists 30. They share 9 problems — 9% of DE Shaw's bank and 30% of Zeta's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 96 DE Shaw-only and 21 Zeta-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 9 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both DE Shaw and Zeta.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add DE Shaw-specific problems like Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements, Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting, Minimum Size Subarray in Infinite Array and Zeta-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Zeta skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
9 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both DE Shaw and Zeta.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Binary Tree Cameras | Hard |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Insert Delete GetRandom O(1) | Medium |
| Sliding Window Maximum | Hard |
| Heaters | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Split Array Largest Sum | Hard |
Unique to DE Shaw (96)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Zeta.
Unique to Zeta (21)
Problems in Zeta's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Apply Operations to Make Two Strings Equal | Medium |
| Minimum Window Substring | Hard |
| Capacity To Ship Packages Within D Days | Medium |
| Palindrome Partitioning II | Hard |
| Task Scheduler | Medium |
| Remove Boxes | Hard |
| Next Greater Element II | Medium |
| Reverse Nodes in k-Group | Hard |
| Maximal Rectangle | Hard |
| Count Univalue Subtrees | Medium |
| Remove K Digits | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do DE Shaw and Zeta share?
DE Shaw and Zeta share 9 LeetCode interview questions. 96 problems appear only in DE Shaw's list and 21 appear only in Zeta's list.
What topics overlap most between DE Shaw and Zeta?
The most common shared topics between DE Shaw and Zeta are Array (7 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (4 shared questions), Binary Search (3 shared questions), Two Pointers (2 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: DE Shaw or Zeta?
DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. Zeta has 0 Easy, 20 Medium, and 10 Hard questions. Zeta has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both DE Shaw and Zeta?
Start with the 9 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 DE Shaw-specific and 20 Zeta-specific questions to round out your prep.