I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Freetrade in Apr 2022
Interview
1. Intro call (30 minutes)
2. Chat with engineering manager, coding challenge, architecture questions (60 minutes)
3. Pairing session (90 minutes)
4. Architecture session (90 minutes)
5. Values session (60 minutes)
Very long and drawn out interview process with lots of different people throughout the company. Quite time consuming. Not sure if this is a sign of inefficiency or lack of trust in the organisation.
The coding challenges were kind of contrived and probably not reflective of the actual work that's done at Freetrade. The architecture questions were at least more representative of real work.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Freetrade (London, England) in Apr 2026
Interview
The interview consisted of 5 steps: intro call with HR, another intro call with the hiring manager (engineering manager), live coding, system design, and culture fit interview at the office. I was informed very thoroughly of every upcoming stage prior to the interview so that I could prepare ahead accordingly. There was no friction throughout the whole process; all steps went exactly as they were described to me beforehand.
Everyone I've met have been super polite, friendly, supportive and kind. During the interviews, the interviewers are very supportive; they let the interviewee ask questions and think aloud and brainstorm together, rather than coldly judging the interviewee and creating a tense environment.
The reason I declined the offer was that I got a competing offer but I would highly recommend Freetrade as the company, the culture, the people and the work seem top notch.
All interviews were online. Process was an initial call with recruiter, then past-experience and technical combined interview. Then a live coding test (algorithm based) followed by a white boarding exercise.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about an impactful project that you were involved in.
