I applied through other source. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Klarna (Berlin)
Interview
After investing several hours in vaguely defined case study and even more time in 6 calls including 8 different senior team members of Klarna my impression is as follows:
- the interview process is unguided, unclear and often time wasting as for the candidate so for the company.
- the logical test is especially wasteful, it can be considered as disrespectful even for someone with 10+ years of industry experience.
- the recruiting is not a priority: neither for the HR nor for the interviewers. If you have any questions regarding the interview process or assignment, you won’t receive any meaningful response.
- you can meet some really interesting and smart people during the journey but most of interviewers I met seemed to be bored from the beginning on. They are interviewing you because they have been told to, not because they are interested in finding a good talent to join the company.
- for some reason the company tries to position itself as a new Facebook or Google of the banking/payment industry but in the same time challenging the status quo or even asking questions is not appreciated.
- My impression of the company culture: when you are told to jump the only allowed question is „how high?“.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Klarna (Madrid) in Jun 2025
Interview
The process was a total disaster! It was supposed to be composed of 4 steps: 1) HR screening, 2) online assessment, 3) business case interview (on client management), 4) Behavioral Interview.
I got stuck between step 1 and 2 as a consequence of complete ghosting from the HR operator. Here, my experience summarized:
1) HR first round call was re-scheduled/postponed 3/4 times from the company side as the HR was not replying to the emails in time/not replying at all.
2) Once scheduled, the call with HR went really bad as well. The HR had major wi-fi issues, which prevented me from either presenting my background and skills, or having my questions on the role answered.
3) After the call, the HR sent me an email where: a) she apologized and admitted the connection issue was hers; b) asked me to send her any unanswered questions via email; c) sent me the link to complete the online assessment (abstract/logical reasoning).
4) I have completed the assessment and replied to her email with my questions. I have never received a feedback, she completely disappeared. I have no idea how my assessment went.
AWFUL EXPERIENCE.
4 or 5 interviews total.
Phone screen,
bar raiser,
case presentation,
hiring team,
X
Bar raiser interviews very connected to klarna leadership principles.
Case interviews vary from role to role, but involve taking home som pseudo realistic team specific task and presenting a path forward. In general some type of action plan involving insights, development plan, go to market and engineering trade-offs with some focus on how to solve the problem.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time that you built something in a data driven way
Very long interview process, more than 3 months from start to finish. Got to the last step but then they closed the position. Otherwise the process was good, involved a product management case, and 3 other interviews with team/managers.
