KOHO Interview Questions
& Process

So, first there was a hiring manager chat, then a technical case interview. For the tech part, they had me walk through a case and use dimensional modeling to make things run faster and scale the dashboard. Also had to fix a SQL query to deduplicate data and use git commands for version control.

So, first I had a phone screening, and then there were two more interviews. They mostly asked about my past experiences, like times I messed up with a customer and fixed it, and how I'd deal with different situations. The people interviewing me were nice and professional.

I had a really bad interview experience with KOHO recently. I went through 10 interviews, starting with the recruiter and ending with the VP of product, and I even did a take-home assignment. It felt like a lot of the interviews were repetitive. After the last interview, they told me my take-home was good but I didn't have enough experience, and asked if I'd be considered for a non-senior PM role. I was shocked because I have years of experience and good references, and it took them 10 rounds to realize this. I was also dealing with a family death during this time, and I don't think a slightly off interview should mean I'm unqualified. It felt like a total waste of my time and energy. Good companies have efficient processes that respect everyone's time. I'd look somewhere else.

So I got a message on LinkedIn from a recruiter at KOHO. The whole interview thing had 4 parts, which I thought was pretty reasonable, definitely not one of those marathon 7+ hour interviews I dislike. The process went like this: First, an online coding challenge with 3 questions, ranging from easy to more real-world problems. Then, a 1-hour technical chat focusing on system design and the design choices I'd made in my past projects. Next up was a 1-hour culture fit interview, looking at behavior and soft skills. This company seems really agile and fast-paced, with a lot of emphasis on taking initiative; apparently, they even give people a half-day on Fridays for personal coding or trying new things. The final part was a quick 30-minute casual chat, likely with the hiring manager, to get to know each other better, talk about work details, and answer any questions I had. After that, it was offer negotiation. The package included a decent base salary, stock options, a one-time WFH budget, a lifestyle fund of about $1k annually, $600/yr for internet, and a full family medical package with HSA and 100% dental. I thought the offer was quite good, but unfortunately, due to some personal stuff that came up after I got the offer, I had to decline. The interview process itself was smooth, and the HR person was super responsive and always answered my emails on time. All the interviewers were really nice and made it feel more like a conversation than a grilling. I'm hoping to join them sometime in the future.