I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Agoda (Kuala Lumpur) in July 2018
Interview
I got an email from Agoda's recruiter asking to block a time to attend a phone interview. I gave my date and got a confirmation email. On the day of the interview, I waited for the phone call but 20 mins later nothing happened. I emailed back to the recruiter to ask if the phone interview is still happening. 10 mins later, I received a call from the recruiter. I was informed that the application has closed and they've conducted interviews last week and have finalized their candidates. In the first place, why would you even contact me and gave me hope to go through the interview only to find out the application has closed when I submitted my application before the dateline. A day before the interview, I received a call from a HK number but did not pick up the call as I wasn't expecting Agoda's number would be from HK because they are based in Bangkok. The recruiter should have given heads up to the candidate to expect a certain number that they'll be calling. Having said that, since they did not manage to get me, they should have sent an email informing that they've failed to contact me earlier and inform on the bad news that they will not be proceeding with the interview. I am very disappointed on how the situation was handled coming from a big OTA player in the market. This has deterred me in wanting to support Agoda further. Recruitment department, please buck up and be precise when selecting your candidates and not give false hope by breaking the bad news to your candidate on the day of the interview! Very unprofessional for a big organisation!
Recruiter Screen: 30–45 mins (background & fit)
Hiring Manager Interview: 45–60 mins (marketing expertise & metrics deep dive)
Case Study: Take-home or live case + 30–45 min presentation (analytical & strategic assessment)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
📌 Recruiter Round
Walk me through your background.
Why Agoda?
What marketing channels have you managed?
What KPIs are you responsible for?
📊 Hiring Manager / Technical Round
How would you allocate a $X monthly marketing budget?
How do you measure campaign performance?
Tell me about a time you improved ROAS or reduced CPA.
How do you approach A/B testing?
How do you balance growth vs profitability?
How do you diagnose a sudden drop in bookings?
I had two rounds of interviews with Agoda. My screening interview was pleasant (recruiter), but I found the second round very strange: The hiring manager wasn't present for the interview and I instead interviewed with someone parallel. They were rude and it felt like an interrogation rather than a mutual process. I was invited to the next round (a case study project) but I declined to move forward based on the second round interview. The process felt poorly organized to me, and I didn't like the vibe of the team during the second interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Explain a time when you had to use data to make a decision
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Agoda (Bangkok)
Interview
Aptitude test online, HR screening on basic questions. 3 round of interview after that. First one with hiring manager on the subject, technical side of it, focusing on strategic part. Second round case study. Third round follow up to the case study, from various teams.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Initiatives I came up with. Size of campaign. Why want to move. Stakeholder management