I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Klarna (Stockholm, Stockholm) in Jun 2023
Interview
I recently underwent a comprehensive four-stage interview process with [Company Name], and I wanted to share my experience. The first stage felt more like a casual discussion with a recruiter. It was a great opportunity for me to talk about my background and learn more about the company culture. In the second stage, I encountered a coding challenge and an abstract reasoning test. The coding challenge pushed me to showcase my technical skills, while the abstract reasoning test evaluated my problem-solving abilities. It was definitely a bit challenging, but it gave me a chance to demonstrate my practical knowledge. The third stage involved a behavioral interview and a live coding session. During the behavioral interview, I was asked about various scenarios and how I would handle them, which allowed me to showcase my soft skills and how I approach challenges in a team environment. The live coding session tested my ability to code on the spot and solve problems in real-time. The fourth and final stage was an architecture interview, but the position was closed before I could schedule it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The live coding test centered around transactions and log parsing. I was tasked with explaining how to store parsed logs into a database while implementing a duplicate detection algorithm.
I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Klarna (Berlin)
Interview
By far the worst selection process of all, NOT EVEN IF YOU PASS, YOU GET IN!
1 - Meeting with the HR recruiter (15 ~ 20 min)
2 - Pattern recognition assignment (15 ~ 18min)
3 - Live coding to improve an Express.js API (60 min)
4 - System design interview (60 min)
5 - Cultural fit interview (60 min)
6 - Alignment to move forward with HR (15 min, only if you passed the last 3 interviews)
The recruiter and all the engineers in the technical interviews were very professional and polite, but I have to say that after more than 30 emails exchanged, €50 spent on coworking and a lot of studying for the technical interviews, my disappointment after more than 5 weeks in the selection process and having been approved in all stages and the company agreeing to pay my salary.
When I got to stage 6 (Alignment to move forward with HR), the recruiter said she would find a team for me and if it was a match, she would send me the contract. I waited a week until I sent an email asking for updates, and was told that they had no vacancies for me and had filled them with an internal candidate. Like??? really? they spent so many resources/ time of employeers and candidates and... I am done really, if you want to move forward anyways, remember the joke is on you!
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Live coding to improve an Express.js API + Prisma ORM + Jest (60 min)
I applied online. I interviewed at Klarna (Stockholm, Stockholm) in Jul 2023
Interview
I don't know much about their interview process because after getting a first email saying they were interested in my application they right off the bat ask me to do some personality test and logical test. My rule of thumb is to never engage in such process. Usually is a huge red flag for trash companies and trash processes. The logical test I only took a peek and saw it was one of those early 00's "find the shape pattern". Just seeing that already made me lose a few brain cells. A company that thinks this is still a good way of selecting talent in 2023 for a position of Full Stack Development it only tells me there must not many smart people in there. Cringe and embarrassing. Devs: no matter how desperate you are to find a job, do not give companies that do these things the time of your day
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Can you do our dumb test before even talking to a human?