I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Checkout.com (London, England) in Apr 2022
Interview
I recently applied for the SSE role.
The Interview process was not smooth and it was quite tiring.
1. First interview was a screening round with HR, it went well and in a week got a confirmation for the next round.
2. In this round, I had a discussion with Engineering Manager, which was quite good. I was asked about my recent projects, my core competencies and working style. In 2 days I got confirmation for the 2nd stage.
3. The home take assignment. This is the WORST part of the process. The assignment is toooo lengthy. They will assess you on the basis of Unit test cases, the core logic, OOP principles, understanding, assumptions and Documentation. For me it took 24 hours to complete the assignment.. Then I got a confirmation for the final round.
4. Final round was a technical round, but the interview panel was more interested in knowing what they know better, instead of assessing you based on your skillset and way of working. They asked me to fix refactor the code verbally to make it more unit testable.
Final outcome was WEIRD and UNEXPECTED!
It was just based on the final interview. 1st and 2nd round was just a waste of time.
I would say if you are appearing for this interview. Please dont just rely this only. Keep applying for more opportunities in parallel.
Good luck!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Core competencies
2. Projects
3. Home take assignment -----What a Waste of time :(
4. Verbal refactoring of code to make it unit testable
5. Explain architecture of current project (Diagram)
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Checkout.com (Tallinn) in Feb 2026
Interview
The best interview process that I had so far . Starts with a survey after the recruiter screening which is very detailed for the candidates to align with the company culture, with a clear feedback on the end. The challenge at home with a task that makes sense for the domain of the company was the next one, followed by a live explanation of the project I liked much more than the traditional pair programming rounds, as it removes a bit the pressure of live coding which eventually brings problems totally disconnected of the position that we are applying and gives you the time to discuss your solution with the interviewers afterwards. The final stages, system design and values interview in person are much more enjoyable and feels more like a workday at the office with a colleagues than live interviewers made on-line.
Up until the system design it was really friendly. Then it became the most embarrassing interview I’ve ever had.
The guy visually facepalmed and laughed if I said something he didn’t like. Asking a lot of trick questions and said hashing the API Key when storing in the database doesn’t make any sense. 😆
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why would you hash an API key when storing in the DB?
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Checkout.com (London, England) in Aug 2025
Interview
I had a first-round interview with talent acquisition, followed by a take-home test, and finally an in-person interview focused on system design.
During all three steps, I received positive feedback. However, after a call from the HR team informing me that I had successfully passed all the steps, they suddenly told me I was not successful due to some gaps in system design and the coding challenge from the second-round interview. This felt quite strange; it seemed like they didn't know what they were doing.
It is possible to successfully pass all interview stages and still not progress with your application, which I find unprofessional.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design a system that processes payments and communicates with two third-party providers, such as a bank and an inventory system.