Duel (UK) interview questions

My interview experience with Duel started off positively. I was initially recruited via LinkedIn and, although hesitant to leave my current role, I became increasingly excited about the opportunity after multiple conversations with the team. Throughout the process, I was consistently told that I was a great fit for the role, which made the opportunity even more appealing. However, my experience took a disappointing turn during the later stages. In one interview with a sales team member—who openly stated they were not a decision-maker for this role—no marketing-related questions were asked. Despite this, I was again assured that I checked all the boxes. Surprisingly, a few days later, I was informed that I would not be moving forward because this same individual felt I lacked sufficient marketing experience. Given my 8+ years of marketing experience, I believe relevant questions or prompts would have allowed me to demonstrate my expertise confidently and thoroughly. Adding to the confusion, I was later told that the real reason for the decision was their preference for someone who could work in-office more frequently. This was unexpected, as the company does not currently have an established office space yet, and I was reassured that a hybrid/mostly remote schedule would be okay. While the initial stages of the interview process were engaging and encouraging, the inconsistency in feedback and reasoning for the final decision was disappointing. Future candidates should seek clarity on role expectations—especially regarding work location—and ensure there are opportunities to fully showcase relevant expertise.

My initial chat with the team lead went well; he seemed like a reasonable and approachable person. However, be prepared for some unexpected questions, like “What’s 4/17?”. In the second stage, I was given a technical challenge to build a simplified feature of their application using Angular, Node, and TypeScript. They requested the use of Cucumber for testing, which felt unnecessary and challenging to configure on the latest Angular stack. Despite this, I managed to deliver a fully functional solution after a couple of days. The third stage involved a demo with the CTO and a couple of developers, which unfortunately was not a positive experience. One developer refused to turn on his camera, and his poor sound quality made him difficult to understand. He seemed preoccupied with outdated concepts like the “Testing Pyramid,” which was frustrating. The CTO appeared unprepared and uninformed, even repeating the odd “4/17” question. He hadn’t reviewed my CV beforehand, which felt disrespectful given the time and effort I’d invested. Shockingly, he also asked if I was familiar with Angular—despite the fact that the entire tech challenge had been built using Angular, which was right in front of him. Months later, I’ve noticed they’re still searching for developers. It’s not hard to see why. To improve their process, they should ensure all interviewers have cameras on and good audio quality for effective communication. Additionally, the CTO should at least review a candidate’s CV before the interview to avoid wasting everyone’s time.