Xapo Bank Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process began with an HR screening where compensation was discussed, including the fixed salary range for the role. The conversation also touched on collaboration with teams like compliance and customer support, and stakeholder communication. The next steps are a technical interview, a take-home technical assignment, and a presentation to the hiring manager. Communication was good and the process felt professional and well-organized.

The interview process involved 4 stages. Initially, there was an HR call to discuss salary, the role's responsibilities, and mutual expectations. Following that, a home assignment was given, requiring the creation of an Android app using Kotlin. This app needed to fetch data from an API, display a list of objects, implement local sorting, and include a detail page for each object, with the candidate choosing the libraries and technologies. The third stage was a technical interview focused on core Android concepts such as activities, ViewModels, fragments, and their lifecycles. The fourth stage was an architecture interview covering MVVM and clean architecture. I was asked to review a GitHub project, suggest improvements, and also review a pull request on that project. Finally, I had an interview with the head of apps, which led to the job offer.

The initial stages of the interview process were quite engaging, with interviewers showing genuine interest in my skills, my background, and how I approach problem-solving. However, the final round with the Product Manager felt more like an interrogation than a collaborative discussion between equals. The PM jumped between unrelated topics, making it difficult to maintain a natural flow in the conversation. Instead of asking clarifying follow-up questions, I was met with condescending smirks. It's unfortunate that they pose the same uninspired HR questions in every interview round, which suggests immature internal processes and a lack of genuine interest. Despite time being a constraint, there was always enough time to ask "What do you know about Xapo?" in each stage. I suspect this is an environment that rewards career climbers and those adept at office politics, rather than individuals seeking to make a significant impact through their talent. As other reviews indicate, favoritism seems to be more advantageous than actual skills. The position has been relisted three times since my interview. I would suggest hiring a PM with an engineering or design background.

The interview process was really smooth. The interviewer from the initial screening interview explained Xapo's culture and ways of working really well. I received an invite to the second round within 24 hours. The questions were really good, asking about my experience, my view on crypto and approach to remote working. Sadly, I haven't passed to the next round but I received a personalised note that they decided to go with a candidate with more relevant skillset. Overall, the experience was really positive and I would love to work for Xapo in the future.