Canva Frontend Engineer Interview

The recruiter screening at Canva is usually a 45-minute session with a mix of technical and conversational components.

In the technical part, expect a quick pop quiz on JavaScript fundamentals. They'll test you on things like Sets, Maps, Promises, setTimeout, let, const, and Math.floor. They’ll also give you around seven JavaScript code snippets to walk through, where you’ll need to explain what each one does.

Make sure you review those core JavaScript concepts in advance—this is your chance to show you’re solid on the fundamentals Canva relies on. Also, think ahead and decide on a few meaningful projects you’ve worked on, focusing on what your role was, any challenges you tackled, and how things could have been improved.

• What are the different data types in JavaScript?
• What is hoisting in JavaScript?
• What is the difference between null and undefined?
• What are closures in JavaScript?
• Tell me about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours.
• Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict with a coworker. How did you handle that?
• Why Canva and why frontend engineering specifically?

Next up, is a 1 to 2 hour pair programming round with a Canva engineer where you'll collaboratively solve a JavaScript-related problem that requires logical thinking and an understanding of data structures.

Here are 3 practical tips for this round:

• Canva wants to see if you can handle concepts like recursion and functional programming in real-time. So, make sure you’re comfortable using recursion for data manipulation, and practice using map, reduce, and filter—as they can come in handy for this round.
• As you approach the solution, remember to talk through your reasoning with the interviewer. Discuss why you’re choosing certain data structures, how you’re handling edge cases, and your overall problem-solving approach. This clarity helps the interviewer follow your logic and see how you tackle real-world coding issues. 
• If you find the requirements unclear or need more information, asking questions can demonstrate your thoroughness. It shows that you’re focused on delivering an accurate solution and are proactive in addressing potential ambiguities.

Since this round can get tricky, it’s a good idea to practice with someone who has experience. Schedule a “pair programming” mock interview with a Canva Frontend Engineer through Carefully for a guided session.

Once you cross the pair programming interview, you can expect up to 4 rounds thereafter as part of the onsite round:

• Technical Interview 1: Algorithm-Focused
• Technical Interview 2: JavaScript Timing Functions and Event Handling
• Technical Interview 3: Browser-Related JavaScript Tasks
• Behavioural Interview

Technical Interview 1: Algorithm-Focused

The first technical round typically centers on algorithm-based problems to test your problem-solving skills. Canva’s algorithm questions aren’t about complex theory; they focus on practical, real-world challenges. Expect topics like arrays, strings, recursion, and foundational data structures. This is a good time to practice on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or CodeSignal with an emphasis on JavaScript-specific algorithm problems. Recruiters often provide study material and hints, so make sure to review anything they share—it’ll give you a clear sense of what’s expected.

Technical Interview 2: JavaScript Timing Functions and Event Handling

The second technical round focuses on JavaScript core concepts, especially timing functions and event handling. Here, you’ll cover functions like setInterval, addEventListener, and Date manipulations. Expect questions where you’ll explain or solve problems using these concepts. To prepare, review how these functions work in various scenarios and practice creating examples that show off your timing and event-handling skills.

Technical Interview 3: Browser-Related JavaScript Tasks

The third tech round takes it up a notch and focuses on real-world scenarios you’d face in the browser. They’re gonna throw some code snippets at you or ask you to work with a piece of code that might interact with users or update over time. This round is all about pure JavaScript—think asynchronous handling and DOM manipulation. Expect stuff like handling user interactions, manipulating the DOM, and maybe even dealing with some async challenges.

Practice DOM manipulation and asynchronous JavaScript without frameworks. They want to see you handle things the “vanilla” way, so make sure you’re crystal clear on how let, const, and var work in different contexts.

Behavioral Interview

Now for the non-technical, but still crucial, behavioral interview. Here, they want to know what kind of teammate you are, how you handle pressure, and if you’re someone who grows from challenges. It’s not just about whether you have cool stories to share—it’s about whether you learned from those experiences.

Have a few STAR stories (Situation, Task, Action, Result) up your sleeve about times when you had to tackle a tough problem, work in a team, or handle conflict. Canva’s team cares less about what went wrong and more about how you bounced back or what you learned. If you’d like additional support, Prepfully offers 1-on-1 coaching sessions with Canva frontend engineers to help you prep for this round.

• I want to know an example of when you failed at work
• Tell us about how Canva aligns with your longer term plans
• How do you construct the promisify() function in JavaScript for transitioning from callback to Promise-based functions?
• Describe a time you disagreed with a coworker but had to cooperate to get a project done
• Describe a time when you failed to accomplish a goal
• What design elements would you prioritize in a carousel widget that cycles images or content with adjustable navigation and transition effects?
• What methods do you use to earn your team's trust?
• Tell me about a time when you had to step up and disagree with a team members approach?
• What is a callback function in JavaScript?
• What are promises in JavaScript?
• What is the purpose of the setTimeout() function in Javascript?
• How can you check if an array includes a certain value?
• How can you remove duplicates in an array?
• What is the purpose of async and await in JavaScript?