I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Octopus Energy in Nov 2023
Difficult interview
Application
I applied in-person. I interviewed at Octopus Energy in Aug 2022
Interview
Attended their event, 1st round technical interview, did practical task, 2nd round tech interview. Offered another tech test for a lower level position. Rejected but got good feedback in a 1-to-1 call with the API team head.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions surrounded the task I did, which was to implement an API using Django and GraphQL, encouraging frequent commits with Git. Some web dev questions like - what's the difference between authorization and authentication - what's a CSRF token
The interview process includes four stages.
A quick 15 chat with the company's recruiter.
A 45 minute chat with two team leaders in the company.
A challenging medium to hard tech test.
A 60 minute chat with a senior engineer and a team leader reviewing the tech test and some challenging questions.
A final chat to make sure you are a proper cultural fit for the company and you have expected communication and soft skills required in your role.
I would say their interview process in challenging. I know I have repeated the word challenging many times, but this is the best word to describe the process.
It shows the company is looking for the one precent best developers meeting their needs.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me how would you redesign your tech test implementation if the size of the data being processed was much more than the data referred in the tech test.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Octopus Energy (London, England) in Nov 2023
Interview
People were nice, technical questions were hard but reasonable. I love that HR manager and the team have positive energy and ready to help with any questions. I can truly recommend the company
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Hard skills: Technical questions, scalability, reliability, error handling.
Soft skills: Values, work philosophy, critique attitude
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Octopus Energy (London, England) in Nov 2023
Interview
1. Informal call with hiring manager re experiences & motivations for applying.
2. 45min interview with 2 developers to discuss motivations, how you like to work, etc. None of the standard behavioural Qs, just a chat to get to know each other and learn about the company and role.
3. 3-4hr coding challenge in Django.
4. Technical interview with 2-3 developers to discuss solution (justifications and areas for improvement).
5. Call with head of engineering to discuss a recent project informally, and get to know each other.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you deal with the frustration that arises when you can't solve a problem for a while?