Ocado Technology Java Developer Interview Questions
& Process

Applied through a recruiter (understandingrecruitment). First was a phone interview with the external recruiter. Then an online assessment, a Java test on codility.com with three problems in 180 minutes, difficulty was easy to medium, needed efficient solutions not just brute force. Step 3 was a remote coding exercise with an Ocado developer on codility, it was very easy, focused on collaboration. The recruiter mentioned Ocado doesn't pay travel expenses for currently employed candidates and pressured me to go there. I took vacation and booked a flight. The interview day included: a CFC Tour (45 mins) of their automated warehouse, a Pair Programming Interview (up to 2 hours) where I had to solve a problem collaboratively with a Senior Software Engineer/Team Leader using their laptop, lunch (given vouchers, but left alone), a Technical Interview (1 hour) with two developers using a whiteboard, and an IT Head Interview (30-60 mins) for cultural fit. They didn't know I was Italian. I'm not sure they use innovative tech as advertised, seems department-dependent.

After a codility test, I was invited for a one-day interview process. For UK residents, this might be split over two days. The steps included: a written exam in Java (which was easy) and some assembly-like functions (more difficult and fun, where you had to create more complex functions from basic operations like "assign to" and "increment by 1"). This test is the same for both new graduates and experienced candidates. Then, there was a technical interview where I had to write an algorithm on a board and we discussed my past projects and their organization. Finally, there was a chat with a manager.

I applied online and the whole thing took 4 weeks. There were 4 interview stages in total, including technical and HR ones, and they were all online. The only exception was the first 15-minute phone call, but actually, they sent me an email with questions and I had to reply before a certain time because they couldn't reach me by phone. This was back in October 2022.