Auto Trader UK Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK in October 2020.

Interview

Very well conducted interview process.
First stage with HR to know about your motivation, expectation, etc.
Second stage is a live pair programming interview followed by a feedback with software engineers and HR.
After that, HR will tell you in private, without the software engineers, wether you are going to proceed to the next step or not, which is done on the same day, after a break for lunch time.
On the next stage, they will evaluate how you fit with company values and will also ask some technical questions.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK.

Interview

Easy and straight forward application process. Applied online, submitting CV and basic details. Heard back within a few weeks with an invite to an online interview 1 to 1 with someone at Autotrader

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK in December 2020.

Interview

Mostly questions about motivations for applying, followed by an in depth question on the industry. The interview was a 1 to 1 virtual interview, very nice interviewer and left a positive experience.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK (Manchester, England) in September 2020.

Interview

Online form, 1hr pre-screening call, and a 1 hour technical video interview. Refreshing experience, it was fun being interviewed and they asked some really interesting questions. Most importantly, they told me exactly why I didn't get the role and left me with actionable feedback - as they promised at the start of the process.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK (Manchester, England) in September 2020.

Interview

Describe the interview process

The first stage interview is much more friendly and with a professional in your sector. I felt the conversation was fluid and natural; however, we with it being remote, it did feel a tad impersonal. I prepared and researched beforehand, though, on the competency questions, I felt a bit 'tested', almost caught off-guard, which then made me feel pressured.

The second stage was more challenging, as it was longer as well. It was a challenge to dedicate that much of time to the interview. However, Auto Trader where accomodating and understood the situation.

I felt the second stage wasn't as smooth as the first, with different people coming into the call and only seeing on the recurring face it didn't help to make a real connection. Doing things remotely also made it feel not as friendly, however, that's not a criticism on the interviewees.

The second stage consisted of a whiteboard challenge, which from my experience didn't feel like a whiteboard challenge. The problem was written out for me already, and that caused issues for me. My fault I didn't disclose I was dyslexic, and as much it's not a huge problem, I felt an immense pressure to read and do this challenge quickly.

Due to it being remote, I couldn' draw well (which I understand isn't the issue), but you couldn't make out what I was sketching, so I felt the Type tool was of more use while talking about what I was thinking. I felt the interviews didn't collaborate into the discussions, so it felt more individual than a collaborative exercise.

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK (Manchester, England) in September 2020.

Interview

Process took 4 weeks, all virtual, involving 5 different stages, which were: phone screening, technical interview, technical challenge, values interview, and a one on one interview with an OLT member.

Before each stage Auto Trader would provide me with documents which explained the next stage of the process, and what to expect.

I received plenty of feedback after each stage from Auto Trader, which was very valuable in helping me understand my own strengths and where I needed to improve.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ months. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK (Manchester, England) in July 2020.

Interview

The process comprised of 5 stages:
1) Online written application
2) Online tests (verbal, mathematical and diagrammatic reasoning)
3) Telephone interview - around 30 minutes, exploring why I wanted to work for Autotrader, what I knew about the company, and why I had applied for this role
4) Assessment Day - this was all done online because of COVID, but we were given 2 weeks to prepare, and had a 10 minute meeting the week before to check we understood how to use Microsoft Teams. The day itself consisted of 4 assessed tasks: a 15 minute presentation, a roleplay, a 1 hour interview, and a group task
5) Interview with a member of the OLT which lasted around an hour. This explored my motivations for applying, and how my own personal values fit in with Autotrader's

The recruitment team were very helpful at every stage, always keeping us up to date with where they were up to with reviewing applications, or when the next stage would be. I think the process was meant to be completed in a much shorter time period, but because of COVID there was a 2 month gap between the telephone interview and assessment day. But we were kept well informed throughout this period with regular emails which was very helpful.

Throughout the process it was clear that Autotrader really cared about us as individuals, and that they would put a lot of time and effort into our careers and training if we were to get the job. We were always given the opportunity to ask questions, whether this be to the recruitment team prior to interviews, or to employees who worked in the job roles we would be doing were we to get the job - for example, there was an opportunity to talk to current graduates, as well as ask our interviewers questions at the end of each interview. All the interviewers were very friendly and made a clear effort to help us feel comfortable.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ months. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK in July 2020.

Interview

I applied online in February 2020. The process consisted of:
- Written application submission
- Online tests
- Phone interview with a member of the team
- Online assessment centre (interview, presentation, group task)
- Final interview with a member of the leadership team

The process was delayed and altered to be online throughout as a result of COVID-19, but the resourcing team made sure to keep us up to date during the process. It was decided that the assessment centre was to be delivered online and this worked really well, especially considering this was one of the first done this way.

I would thoroughly recommend applying to Auto Trader and had a great experience during the application process. Everyone I engaged with was professional yet friendly and communication was excellent throughout the process, despite the unprecedented situation.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ months. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK in July 2020.

Interview

I was invited to a virtual assessment centre, where I had to make a presentation, complete a content creation task, complete a group exercise and answer interview and values-based questions.

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Auto Trader UK (Manchester, England) in July 2020.

Interview

45 minute pairing exercise, observed by another developer that required simple file reading, and aggregation to calculate a value. The language I picked was Scala, but the project files to complete were written in a more Java style (try/catch/finally) over Scala's Try. As there were technical problems I couldn't actually 'take the wheel' and instead described how I thought we should progress. This was quite a frustrating experience as we became bogged down in a simple file loading task. It also became clear as the exercise went on that we were thinking about the code from different paradigms (them: Imperative, me: Functional) and I got the impression the person that I was pairing with was new to Scala, as at one point they thought to reminded me that the last statement in a code block was the return value, and would occasionally slip in to Python snake case naming convention.

After the 45 minutes were up we were only just approaching a solution, which I ended up describing. Given a chance to 'take the wheel' we could have completed the task in about 20-25 minutes. Overall I thought this was a really poor way of assessing my ability as a developer - I didn't write a line of code. Whilst pairing and communication skills are important, there was no real assessment of my technical ability.

Once the 45 minutes are up, you either fail, or pass to carry on the rest of the day. Perhaps given the technical issues I was allowed to pass. What followed was a few hours of technical and values questions with two different developers. There were some slightly tricky questions, but mostly they were relatively straight forward.

At the end of the day I got the impression that this wouldn't be the place to go if you wanted to write idiomatic Scala, and further your knowledge in this area. They also advocate pairing (seemingly almost always pairing) which could be a deal breaker for some.

Also I was told I would hear back the following week, but have no contact from them almost a month later.