Octopus Energy Backend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I started with a really positive call with a recruiter and we decided to move forward. The next step was a technical challenge that took me about 4 hours of focused work. It took me a couple of weeks to find the time to do it because of my current job, but I submitted it. Since then, I haven't heard anything back despite reaching out. It's a bummer if I wasn't good enough to at least get a rejection, or if Octopus Energy has issues with managing applications. It's a shame because the company seemed like a good place to work. My advice would be to not jump straight into a tech challenge until you feel the company is invested in you.

I went through 5 stages: first, a recruiter call, then a chat with some engineers, followed by a take-home technical challenge. After that, there was a technical interview to discuss my submission and other points, and finally, an informal chat with the CTO. The initial stages took a bit longer than expected because the recruiter was sick and we had to reschedule our first call. I was also moved to a different department at Octopus/Kraken, which added some time, but I see this as a good thing. Both recruiters, Jess and Josie, were great – really attentive and took the time to understand my skills and what I'm looking for, placing me in the best department for me. The technical parts moved quite fast. The questions were relevant to the role, and the interviews were genuinely friendly and conversational. I felt the interviewers had my best interests in mind and wanted to help me show my skills well, with no tricky questions or pressure to make mistakes. I also liked that there weren't many of those typical behavioral questions. I got an offer the day after the final stage and happily accepted.

It's the same process as I've seen elsewhere: you start with an initial screen call with the recruiter, where you chat about your career background, salary expectations, and other things. Then there's a preliminary conversation with some developers, which is really free-flowing and gives you lots of chances to ask your own questions. After that, you get a take-home assignment, which was definitely the part I found the most challenging. Then, you go over the take-home with a different group of developers, likely ones you'd be working with, discussing trade-offs, architecture, edge-cases, and so on. And finally, there's a brief chat with the CTO, which I was worried about but turned out to be a real selling point for me, as it let me get a sense of the passion at the top of the business. My recruiter was fantastic throughout, very responsive and accommodating. Everyone I spoke with seemed interested and interesting, not trying to catch you out or interrogate you.