I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Semrush in Mar 2024
Interview
Disgusting experience and just a waste of my time. There were two developers at the interview, frontend leaders in their respective fields. The interview was mostly conducted by only one of them. My answers to their questions were simply ignored and passed by their ears, and then the leader repeated my answer word for word under the sauce of the "correct" answer. Just an example of such a question: "Tell me what happens when a user enters the address of the site in the address bar", I answered everything that happens in order starting with dns and ending with how the browser draws the site. The presenter just predicted my answer and asked "In what order?" even though I had just told him it step by step. And that's one example, the whole interview went like that. They ask a question, I answer, they shake their head that it's not the right answer and repeat what I just told them.
In the end, I received "feedback" saying that I had a superficial understanding of all the topics surveyed. If you decide to refuse, have the courage to say the reason for refusal directly. I would accept feedback in the form of "we are looking for a team member with a different personality", but not that I didn't respond to something.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How browser render page? Common javascript questions such as event loop, closure, micro/macro tasks. Typescript, react, css.
The interview wasn't hard or easy, I'd say average. From the technical questions:
1. How browser renders the content
2. How React works
3. What is load balancer
The technical task was to review React code, to find mistakes, fix them and explain
I was an online interview. There was a few questions and a couple of live coding tasks. For me it looked pretty difficult but pleasant. The interviewer was polite and asked interesting questions. I felt nervous but also feel support and empathy.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What exactly does the browser do for loading a site
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Semrush in Mar 2025
Interview
1. The HR interview went smoothly – just the usual talk about expectations from both sides.
2. The technical interview lasted around 2 hours with two engineers in a live coding session. Covered some simple algorithms, performance-related questions, React, TypeScript, CSS… Overall, a pleasant and respectful conversation with both of them.
3. Finally, they invited me to the so-called “team meeting,” which was supposed to be the last step of the process. Then HR emailed me twice over two weeks to set the date, only to send a third email saying they had decided not to move forward with my application because the engineers "reconsidered." 😂 So they invited me to the final step… then changed their minds. Honestly, a bit ridiculous.
- Conclusion: Don’t waste your time, and definitely don’t be desperate – if they treat candidates like this, imagine what the actual work environment is like. Maybe God saved me, who knows. Hope this helps someone avoid the same experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They usually share a piece of code for you to review, fix, or improve, and then you discuss your approach together. For example: 'What’s wrong with this React code?' or 'How would you filter elements that appear in both arrays to return the union of numbers?
Dear Sender,
Thank you for the positive feedback about our interview process. We’d be happy to stay in touch for future opportunities!
Yours, the Semrush Team
Semrush response
1y
Dear Sender,
Thank you for your review. We apologize for the inconvenience caused. This is not in line with our usual procedures, and we will take this matter to improve our processes at all levels.
We appreciate your understanding and once again extend our sincere apologies.
Yours, the Semrush Team