I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Checkout.com (London, England) in May 2024
Interview
Applied online. Got feedback to come in for a screening. Then had a second stage with an engineering manager - lasted for an hour. Asked questions around my latest project. Diving into the approaches I took and then also onto different approaches that I could have taken. Pros and cons of different approaches. Then next stage was a live coding interview for 1h and 30 mins. Think it was a fair approach on how to judge someone's coding skills. Not some silly leetcode test but testing someone on correct engineering practices while coding, then some technical questions after. Next stage is the system design 1h.
Overall was positive and a fast process, giving feedback very quickly and keeping me in the loop. Some may think the process is difficult but I'd say it's difficult if you don't know what you're talking about and are just trying to blab your way through. But putting average difficulty because they do like to probe and discuss different approaches which can become challenging which I really liked.
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.