In the Canva frontend engineering interview, there's a live coding session where the interviewer will ask you to share your screen via Google Meet. Here's what to expect: You’ll be given a coding problem on the spot. It’s usually frontend-related, such as implementing a UI component or solving a JavaScript logic problem. You can use any local editor or development environment you’re comfortable with (e.g., VS Code, WebStorm). You’re allowed to search online for documentation or references (like MDN, StackOverflow), but you are strictly not allowed to use any AI tools, including ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor—even for passive suggestions or prompts. The interviewer will observe how you think, structure your code, and debug issues. They care more about your problem-solving process and code clarity than just getting the correct answer. The session lasts around 45 minutes, and you’re encouraged to communicate your thought process as you go. The interviewer might ask clarifying questions or follow-ups to see how you handle feedback or explore edge cases. Overall, it’s more about collaborative problem solving and communication than just coding under pressure.

I had an opportunity to test myself in Canva. I passed 5 interviews and expected to get feedback in 2-3 days (information from the recruiter) but there was no reply. The interview process consists of 5 stages: an initial tech interview and 4 final interviews. - Initial tech interview. Leet-code style problem (data structures and algorithms) Final interviews: - Architecture. It's the most controversial section ever. It's neither a classical software system design interview nor even frontend architecture, where you are asked to design architecture from scratch and where you have some requirements in the beginning. An interviewer simply asks you to design an app that includes some list of data - no requirements, no context of application. What even made me surprised during the interview was that the interviewer didn't answer clarifying questions and didn't tell me about expectations. - Programming Language Fluency. I was asked to implement a part of a popular game using plain JavaScript. No theoretical questions about js, browser API e.t.c - Technical Review & Technical Comms. Discussed with other Canva's engineers about what is wrong with a particular piece of code and what advice I would give to an author of the code. It looks like a code review - Strategy, Communications & Leadership. It's like a classical behavioral interview where you asked about achievements, leadership, ownership, disagreements etc. Three weeks later I got feedback about interview processes - where I was good and where I failed.