Roles they hire for
- Brake and steering controller software engineer
- ADAS software engineer
What they emphasise
- Brake, steering and ADAS controllers
- ASIL-D software
- Vehicle motion control
Brush up on
ASIL-DPlausibility checksLockstep MCUsCAN FDFault reaction time
How the rounds usually run
A typical automotive supplier loop for embedded roles. Companies vary by team and seniority.
Written or online test
- Aptitude and logical reasoning
- C programming and core electronics
- Sometimes basic networking and OS
Example: What is the output of a signed and unsigned comparison in C, and why?
Technical 1: Embedded C and MCU basics
- Embedded C, pointers and memory
- Microcontroller peripherals and interrupts
- CAN fundamentals and your final-year or work project
Example: How does CAN arbitration work, and what happens on a bit error?
Technical 2: Automotive domain
- AUTOSAR layers, RTE and BSW
- UDS diagnostics and ISO-TP
- ISO 26262, MISRA and ASPICE awareness
Example: Where does a diagnostic request travel through the AUTOSAR stack, from CAN to the application?
Managerial or process round
- V-model and ASPICE work products
- Estimation, customer communication and reviews
Example: How do you handle a customer requirement that conflicts with a safety requirement?
HR
- Motivation, mobility and compensation
Example: Why automotive software?
Practice questions
Original questions written for ZF's focus areas, not leaked ones.
- What is a fault-tolerant time interval, and how does it drive your software design?
- Design plausibility checks for a steering-angle sensor with two redundant channels.
- How does an ASIL-D brake controller react when its main MCU fails?
- Explain how you'd test that a safety mechanism actually detects the fault it claims to.
- How do you keep a 1 ms control loop deterministic on a multicore MCU?
Your prep playlist
CAN receive filter and handlerProtocols · Medium · 3 bugs · ~7 minTick timeouts and delaysTiming · Warm-up · 3 bugs · ~4 minCasting a byte stream to a structMemory & C · Medium · 4 bugs · ~6 minInteger promotion trapsMemory & C · Medium · 3 bugs · ~5 minADC with circular DMADMA & graphics · Hard · 3 bugs · ~7 minIndependent watchdog usageDrivers & ISRs · Medium · 3 bugs · ~5 min64-bit microsecond timestampsTiming · Medium · 2 bugs · ~5 minPeriodic control loopRTOS · Medium · 3 bugs · ~5 minSerial command parserProtocols · Warm-up · 3 bugs · ~4 min
Design rounds to practise
Themes are inferred from ZF's public product lines.
Take an AI mock round styled on ZF, with follow-ups that probe what you missed.
Start a mock round