Codat Interview Questions
& Process

First, they looked at my resume, then we had a quick chat on the phone. After that, I had an interview to see if I was a good fit, followed by a technical interview to check my skills. Then, a second interview where we went into more detail about technical problems and specific situations. Finally, they called me with an offer.

Had several virtual meetings over a couple of weeks with the hiring manager, recruiter, head of people, and CEO. This included a presentation. The early conversations were great, but the final interview felt like they were fishing for free consulting work. They asked for a 3-month roadmap for the US people function, which should have been a red flag. The questions afterwards made me really question the interview process's validity. Codat should compensate people for this part, not treat it like free consulting. Codat can be great, but they need to work on removing biases, especially in recognizing US vs. UK differences.

I applied directly to Codat and had an interview with them last week. It was a pleasure interview overall, and it took about a week since they are expanding. The first stage involved a conversation with a lead engineer who asked me about HTTP, TCP/IP, and scalability. I got feedback that my answers on HTTP and TCP/IP were correct, but my scalability answer sounded like it was copied from the internet and that I didn't truly understand it. They then decided I wasn't a good fit for a senior level but asked if I'd consider a mid-level role, which was within my expected salary. I proceeded to the final round, which lasted 2.5 hours. The first hour was a pair programming session where I had to build a payment API from a blank Web API template, demonstrating coding and problem-solving skills. I found this fairly easy and used TDD, which they acknowledged positively, noting I produced many lines of code. They mentioned there were no right or wrong answers and encouraged questions, stating they were there to help. Task 1 was successful. However, during Task 2, after writing a test, I realized my code design was flawed and immediately refactored it, making it work correctly with TDD. Despite this, they told me I misunderstood the requirements and made a mistake, even though I corrected it and got it working. This was confusing given their earlier statement about being there to help, and I questioned the criteria and purpose of pair programming when faults are not tolerated during development, suggesting others be wary of this approach. Following that, I had a technical round with an Engineering Manager. She asked about 20 questions in an hour covering C#, Unit Testing, general Testing, CI/CD, and related topics. I felt I answered most questions well, trying to head in the right direction even if I didn't know every answer. I noticed she had a prepared list of questions and seemed to stick to it rigidly, asking questions without follow-ups, which felt like a lazy approach from the interviewer. The feedback given was that I didn't understand Task 2 and didn't start with the right approach, which was disappointing even after I corrected it and made it work. It seemed like they didn't value my coding, communication, or problem-solving skills. They then concluded I wasn't suitable for a mid-level role, implying I was more of a junior, despite my ability to use TDD and answer difficult questions on C#, CI/CD, Testing, and Async. Ultimately, I suspect they didn't want to extend an offer, perhaps due to my salary expectations, and always found a reason to reject candidates.

This was one of the most unprofessional interview experiences I have ever had. I had a phone screen first, and I was excited about the next round. The second interview was a video conference with the hiring manager where she continually cut me off and rolled her eyes. It was clear that she was not pleased to be conducting an interview, and she exhibited rude behavior, borderline bully. Interviewees beware, especially if you are interviewing on this team. I chalked it up to her just having a bad day but in no professional setting should you take it out on potential recruits.