Tencent Summer Daily Intern Front-end Interview#

I'm a graduate of the 23rd session, looking for a summer internship, but this year is 2021 so I can only have a daily internship. After looking around, I found that not many companies are offering daily internships, only Tencent, ByteDance, Xiaomi, and Meituan are recruiting for daily internships. So, I applied to Tencent and Meituan first, and this time I was picked by Tencent's IEG department. Yes, I'm the silly one who filled in "no preference."

First Round#

The first round interview was scheduled for 2021-03-09 15:00 and lasted for 51 minutes. I felt pretty good about myself initially. I've been writing a blog for a year, and my basics are quite solid. However! Here comes the turning point, the interviewer gave me a direct hit. They didn't ask much about the basics, it was all about the project. My project is really just a relatively simple one, not much technical depth, I felt helpless. Besides stumbling over my answers, there were some points that I thought were good, but in the eyes of the interviewer, they didn't seem meaningful. Of course, the interviewer was very nice, continuously prompting me in areas where I was unsure, but it's no use when you're not skilled enough. That's the reality, I just don't know.

• Self-introduction, a must-have.
• Started with some chatting, maybe to ease my nervousness, asked about graduation time and so on. Talked about using PHP for backend and Node.js. I was beginning to doubt if this was a front-end interview.
• Do you know any other backend languages? Compared a few.
• Handwritten binary search, implementation with iteration and recursion.
• Handwritten debounce function. It was my first time using that online editor, but it had code prompts and was quite good.
• What if PHP needs to read a very large file, such as a large array, and PHP has restrictions on it? I was stumped by this, I didn't know what it was. I answered by suggesting some temporary configuration changes. At that time, I didn't know, but searching now, using php's fseek can manipulate file content through pointers.
• Have you developed a service based on Node.js? I wrote a reverse proxy request in Cloudflare. My resume didn't even mention Node, why so many questions about it?
• HTTP response codes, what do 1xx 2xx 3xx 4xx 5xx represent? What do 501 and 502 specifically mean?
• The differences between HTTP 1.0 and HTTP 2.0, and the improvements made.
• Shared screen to introduce the project, what were the challenges encountered in project development?
• All the project components were self-written, introduce your best component. I panicked and couldn't highlight the strong points.
• Explain why the project directory was designed that way.
• Talk about your modular design, in my case, I talked mostly about Js modules, but the interviewer seemed to be interested in abstracting modules from business logic. Maybe my understanding was off, but I felt my modules were indeed too simple. The only relatively complex request module didn't get a chance to talk about before the next question.
• What is Vuex used for in your project?
• How are the hash mode and history mode of Vue router implemented?
• Any other projects? Explain the directory structure. By now, the interviewer probably lost interest in my small project, I was in despair.
• Design patterns in your blog, which ones have you used, briefly introduce.
• Have you studied Vue's SSR? Any practical experience?
• Handwrite a vertical center layout.

I felt this interview was really a failure. There weren't many bright spots in my project, and because I thought the first round was about basics, I wasn't prepared at all and got caught off guard. Now I feel a bit rushed, I should've tried my skills at a smaller company first. I missed the mark. One opportunity in a cycle, see you next time! Wait, I misunderstood before, Tencent loves to interview endlessly.

Second Round#

I didn't expect to pass the first round, very grateful for not being rejected. The second round was scheduled for 2021-03-12 19:00 and lasted for 43 minutes, but Tencent's process is still at the initial stage. It's a bit embarrassing. The second interview was much more comfortable since I had the experience from the first time. Of course, the interviewer was more friendly, we were at ease, also, why do interviewers love checking blogs so much? This time, the interview didn't involve many basic questions, most of them were based on the project.

• Self-introduction, a must-have.
• Then some chatting, mentioning that the first round was more technical, so let's talk more about the project this time. I thought the first round didn't ask many basic questions.

The interview continued, going through a range of technical and project-related questions.

Translate into English:

Final Interview#

The final interview was a breeze. I could tell the interviewer was a big shot from the get-go. When I asked for areas to improve, he said everything was good, especially my ability to use front-end knowledge to develop tools independently. He even encouraged me to keep learning and working on projects to gain more experience. I was speechless and felt a bit embarrassed since I wasn’t as proficient in college. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by his praise. I was extremely grateful for the interview experience, albeit a bit flustered.

Third Interview#

The third interview was held on 2021-03-17 15:00. It was brief, only 15 minutes, and the interviewer didn't turn on the camera, maybe due to inconvenience. The short notice at noon for a 3 pm interview made it feel like a surprise inspection. I only had 15 minutes to showcase my abilities. All I can do now is wait. Tencent's recruiting process really keeps you on edge.

• Standard self-introduction.
• How did you gather data for your mini-program? Did you work on it alone? PS: My mini-program project.
• How did you promote your mini-program?
• What difficulties did you encounter while working on your mini-program?
• Why did you create this mini-program?
• Do you regularly gather user feedback?
• Do you play games in your spare time? Have you considered creating a game?
• Why Tencent?
• Rank the importance of the project, team atmosphere, and technical accumulation.
• Why did you choose the front-end direction?
• The front-end field is evolving rapidly. What are your thoughts?
• Among the various front-end directions, which ones do you prefer?
• Sometimes it's challenging to distinguish between front-end and back-end requirements. How would you handle that?
• Asked about the department, related to "IEG" and "WeGame" platform.

This interview was too short, and I felt a bit anxious. It seemed more like a product management interview rather than a front-end interview. The questions were quite open-ended, and I ended the interview feeling lost. Updated: half an hour later, an HR interview was scheduled. Thanks to the interviewer; it was an exciting, albeit thrilling experience.

HR Interview#

The HR interview took place on 2021-03-19 16:30 and lasted about 25 minutes. Originally scheduled for 15:00, it was rescheduled due to a class. The invitation clearly explained the reason, but I thought I might not get another chance. The interviewer was friendly and talkative, which made the interview feel comfortable, even though I felt a bit clueless. It was my first HR interview, and without technical questions, I struggled with my responses.

• Why Tencent?
• You were referred internally. Do you know anyone working at Tencent?
• Which companies have you interviewed with, and what's the progress?
• Have you been to Guangdong? Are you familiar with Guangdong?
• Do you have relatives or friends in Guangdong?
• Estimate the duration of your internship.
• Where is your school located, and where is your hometown?
• Briefly introduce your family background.
• Present a recent project.
• Introduce a significant competition you participated in.
• What games do you play in your spare time?
• Do you have any specific career plans for the future?
• Familiarity with the department and its business operations.
• What were your impressions of the previous interviewers and the team atmosphere?
• Share the game you've played the most.
• Asked when the results would be known, respond in one to two weeks and watch out for phone calls and emails.
• Confirmed the internship period and duration again.

To be honest, it was challenging without technical questions. It seems like I need more practice, as I was quite nervous. It seems my bragging skills are lacking, and I need to keep improving. However, these four interviews are over, and now it's time to await the results.

Follow-up#

• I anxiously awaited the HR interview results for 8 days, until 2021-3-27 17:29 when I received the job offer. I was so anxious that I even sent an email to the campus recruitment team to urge them.
• On 2021-03-31 20:28, I received a call from the HR lady. Since I hold a position as a supervisor for Zhou's company, I had to be relieved of that role before the next steps could be completed, including receiving the job offer. I added the HR lady on WeChat to proceed step by step.
• Finally, on 2021-04-09 11:26, everything was confirmed. The process was indeed lengthy, haha.
• On 2021-04-12 10:14, the official job offer was sent out. Next, I will proceed with the onboarding process. The spring recruitment of this year has finally come to an end.