I applied online. I interviewed at Arena Entertainment (London, England) in May 2026
Interview
Was offered 2nd interview which I prepared a presentation for over the 4 days since the interview was booked. 54 mins before the interview they emailed me saying it was cancelled because the role was no longer available and would let me know they're hiring in the future. It's just the most unprofessional experience ive ever had with any company. They must have poor internal comms, structure and they just dont care. No legitimate company does that. Wouldn't want to work somewhere that acts like this. Should note i had no idea what salary the role was going to be because it was never brought up or mentioned in the job desc. Very strange and not worth the time
I applied online. I interviewed at Arena Entertainment in Mar 2026
Interview
I attended two stages, HR screening (30min) and technical chat (45min) with two guys from the team which I would be working on. The screening was fairly rigorous for a first stage and featured mostly questions for me, not much detail about the role was given beyond a brief summary of what was being built (minor red flag #1). Second stage was a great conversational style interview with some detail about the platform. The guys were relaxed, we connected easily and I felt that they would make good colleagues. I could have tightened certain aspects of my performance but on the whole I thought it went just about well enough to get invited to a next stage. They seemed positive about my performance and told me in the interview that "some other people" will probably want to talk to me (minor red flag #2 - the process should be defined up-front), but that the process was focussed on discussion over take-home exercises or stupid programming puzzles, which I appreciated. They asked me if I preferred a contract or permanent role, I said I could do either and they said I should just let my HR contact know.
I immediately followed up with an email asking a couple of extra questions and outlined my preference for a permanent role, cc'ing the HR contact. I immediately got some answers back from the team, which was nice. I followed a few days later with an additional question, they said they were having scheduling issues getting the team together to discuss but they should have some news for me "soon". Shortly after that response I got an email from the HR contact saying they will be updating with the team later that day, and that they will be sharing feedback "ASAP". They also asked for thoughts or feedback, given the timing it seemed like a "kicking the can down the road" type of email. I immediately responded saying I was still really interested, meeting the team went really well, looking forward to next steps.
After some more days with no response I decided to poke the HR contact again, they asked me what my preference regarding perm or contract was (minor red flag #3 - they already had this information since my first email after meeting the team), and how soon I could start. Again I was told that they were catching up with the team that day and I would be updated "ASAP".
ASAP turned into another week without response, so I messaged the HR once again reiterating my interest and asking if there was any updates or likely timelines. No response.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe your approach to improving the output of LLM-based coding tools
I applied online. I interviewed at Arena Entertainment (London, England) in Dec 2025
Interview
Interviewed with Metawin/Arena Entertainment
First round, I spoke to the HR lady, she was nice but didn't know much. Asked my pay expectations then proceeded to tell me they don't know what they're gonna pay. Couldn't answer most questions I had re the role.
Red flags/bad gut feeling after this, but proceeded to head into second interview.
Second interview with two blokes, Asked me questions, Asked them questions, but not direct or clear, re growth within company, how they actually operate onboarding new clients, which were just vague. Honestly feels like no structure within the company, just throwing a few guys in the deep end and saying do your best.
Wouldn't normally bother to write a review but just getting a generic "Thanks for expressing your interest but we've decided to move along with another candidates" not even a Call or at the very least quick whatsapp message - Pathetic. But with a bit of research on MetaWins/Arena Entertainments glassdoor, and a bit of deeper research it aligns.
Be prepared to process withdrawals out of hours!