Zelis Healthcare Overview

Zelis Healthcare is a leading payments company in the healthcare industry, dedicated to improving the financial experience for insurers and their members. By partnering with over 700 payers, including top national health plans and regional insurers, Zelis helps align the interests of payers, providers, and consumers through adaptive technology and comprehensive payment platforms.

Zelis currently has an opening for a Software Engineer position. This role is pivotal in developing scalable and reliable IT-enabled business solutions. Candidates with experience in .NET, C#, and front-end frameworks like Angular or React will find this position especially rewarding. The role offers hybrid and remote-friendly work options, with offices in multiple locations.

Considering joining Zelis? Let Interview Query guide you through the interview process and help you ace your Software Engineer interview. Let's dive in!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Zelis Healthcare as a Software Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a Zelis recruiter or have taken the initiative yourself, carefully review the job description and tailor your CV according to the prerequisites.

Tailoring your CV may include identifying specific keywords that the hiring manager might use to filter resumes and crafting a targeted cover letter. Furthermore, don’t forget to highlight relevant skills and mention your work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV happens to be among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from the Zelis Talent Acquisition Team will make contact and verify key details like your experience and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be part of the screening process.

In some cases, the Zelis Software Engineer hiring manager might be present during the screening round to answer your queries about the role and the company itself. They may also indulge in surface-level technical and behavioral discussions.

The whole recruiter call should take about 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Successfully navigating the recruiter round will present you with an invitation for the technical screening round. Technical screening for the Software Engineer role at Zelis usually is conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around C#, ASP.Net Core, SQL Server, Web API, and JavaScript.

Depending on the role, take-home assignments concerning product development and technical specificity may also be part of this stage. Your proficiency against problem-solving, coding standards, and software development lifecycle practices will be assessed during the round.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Followed by a second recruiter call outlining the next stage, you’ll be invited to attend the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds will be conducted during your day at the Zelis office or through virtual meetings, depending on your location and role requirements. Your technical prowess, including programming and design review capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

If you were assigned take-home exercises, a presentation round may also await you during the onsite interview for the Software Engineer role at Zelis.

Quick Tips For Zelis Healthcare Software Engineer Interviews

• Understand the Company’s Tech Stack: Zelis values strong skills in C#, ASP.Net Core, SQL Server, and modern JavaScript frameworks like Angular or React. Make sure to have a solid grasp of these technologies, as well as the ability to develop and maintain legacy applications.

• Have Clear Communication: Effective communication is essential at Zelis. Be prepared to discuss how you determine project feasibility, provide technical approaches to business requirements, and mentor other development team members.

• Align with the Company’s Values: Zelis champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in all aspects of their operations. Make sure your answers reflect a collaborative attitude, adherence to best practices, and a commitment to these values.

Typically, interviews at Zelis vary by role and team, but commonly Software Engineer interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• Write a query to determine the top 5 actions performed during the week of Thanksgiving and rank them. The events table tracks every time a user performs a certain action on a platform. Write a query to determine the top 5 actions performed during the week of Thanksgiving (11/22/2020 - 11/28/2020), and rank them based on the number of times performed. The output should include the action performed and their rank in ascending order. If two actions were performed equally, they should have the same rank.

• Create a function recurring_char to find the first recurring character in a string. Given a string, write a function recurring_char to find its first recurring character. Return None if there is no recurring character. Treat upper and lower case letters as distinct characters. Assume the input string includes no spaces.

• Write a function range_vehicles to find the number of vehicles between checkpoints. Given a list called vehicles which indicates the number of vehicles between each checkpoint, write a function range_vehicles that will give the number of vehicles between the start and end checkpoints. Note: start may be 0.

• Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. If more than one person shares the highest salary, the query should select the next highest salary.

• Write a query to get the current salary for each employee. Due to an ETL error, the employees table, instead of updating the salaries every year when doing compensation adjustments, did an insert instead. Write a query to get the current salary for each employee. Assume no duplicate combination of first and last names and that the INSERT operation works with ID autoincrement.

• How would you set up an A/B test to optimize button color and position for higher click-through rates? A team wants to A/B test multiple changes in a sign-up funnel. For instance, a button is currently red and at the top of the page. They want to see if changing the button to blue and/or moving it to the bottom will increase click-through rates. How would you set up this test?

• What metrics would you use to monitor the health of the Stack Overflow community? Given a table of Stack Overflow posts data, suggest three metrics to monitor the health of the community. Write the SQL queries for these metrics.

• How would you investigate the underperformance of the Calm meditation app in a new country? As the PM of the Calm meditation app, you launched the app in a new country, but it isn't performing as well as expected. What would you investigate to find out why?

• How would you design a function to detect anomalies in a univariate dataset? If given a univariate dataset, how would you design a function to detect anomalies? What if the data is bivariate?

• How would you design a machine learning model to classify major health issues? You work as a machine learning engineer for a health insurance company. Design a machine learning model that, given a set of health features, classifies if the individual will undergo major health issues or not.

• What is the probability that a coin is double-headed given 10 heads in a row? A jar holds 1000 coins: 999 are fair and one is double-sided with two heads. Picking a coin at random, you toss it ten times and see 10 heads. What is the probability that the coin is double-headed and the probability that the next toss is also a head?

• How would you combat overfitting when building tree-based models? When training a classification model, especially tree-based models, what techniques would you use to prevent overfitting?

• What are the assumptions of linear regression? List and explain the key assumptions that must be met for linear regression to be valid.

• How would you design a model to classify major health issues based on health features? As a machine learning engineer for a health insurance company, how would you design a model to classify whether an individual will undergo major health issues based on a set of health features?

• How would you choose the k value when using k-means clustering? What methods or criteria would you use to determine the optimal number of clusters (k) in k-means clustering?

• How do you detect and handle correlation between variables in linear regression? What methods would you use to detect and handle correlation between variables in a linear regression model, and what are the consequences of ignoring such correlations?

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Zelis Healthcare?

Q: What is the typical interview process for a Software Engineer at Zelis Healthcare?
The interview process can be inconsistent and may not always align with the job description. Candidates have noted that interviews can seem more like a company promotion rather than an actual selection process. Prepare thoroughly and stay flexible.

Q: What technologies and skills are required for the Software Engineer position?
For the ASP.Net Front-End Software Engineer role, you're expected to have experience with .NET, C#, ASP.NET, REST APIs, and JavaScript frameworks like Angular or React. Proficiency in SQL, LINQ, and knowledge of Bootstrap, CSS preprocessors, and Blazor are also important.

Q: What responsibilities can I expect in this role at Zelis Healthcare?
You will be responsible for developing software based on business requirements, analyzing systems flow, and data usage. You'll also facilitate design reviews, mentor team members, and keep company data safe by following industry standards.

Q: What is the workplace environment like at Zelis Healthcare?
Zelis offers a hybrid and remote-friendly culture. They have offices in multiple locations, and in-office work is based on the needs of the position and determined by the leadership team.

Q: What is Zelis Healthcare’s stance on diversity and equal employment opportunities?
Zelis champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. They encourage members from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, even if they do not believe they 100% fit the position's qualifications.

If you're interested in joining Zelis Healthcare as a Software Engineer, prepare yourself thoroughly for the interview process. Despite some challenges with the interview experiences, staying well-prepared can help you navigate the process effectively.

For more insights about Zelis Healthcare, check out our main Zelis Healthcare Interview Guide where we have covered many potential interview questions. We’ve also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about the intricacies of Zelis' interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every Zelis Healthcare software engineer interview question and challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck with your interview!