Checkout.com

Software Engineer Interview Experience - United Kingdom

February 1, 2022

Positive ExperienceGot Offer

Process

It started with a first call from the People team, just to align interests and expectations. It was followed by a take-home technical test and, after succeeding on it, a call with the interviewing team was scheduled.

This was a very easy-going technical interview, where I really felt comfortable even when I didn't have an immediate answer to a question. At some point, it became a healthy discussion, as if I was already part of the team.

Lastly, a very welcoming cultural/behavioral interview, where I could find more about the company's work-life balance.

Questions

An HackerRank-like take-home test.

Technical questions regarding experience with commonly used backend technologies.

A simple bank-operations platform architecture whiteboard assessment.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 33 interview experiences for the Checkout.com Software Engineer role in United Kingdom.

Success Rate

45%

Pass Rate

Checkout.com's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in the United Kingdom is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive55%

Neutral12%

Negative33%

Candidates reported having good feelings for Checkout.com's Software Engineer interview process in United Kingdom.

Checkout.com Work Experiences

Make Checkout Great Again

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

October 10, 2025

Pros: - Good salary. They also offer a generous bonus at the end of the year, which is rare in this industry. - Tech stack is very interesting. You're gonna learn a lot of infrastructure as well as AI and data engineering if you end up in a good team. - People are very smart and in general very motivated. If you enjoy building cool stuff, this is the place to go.

Cons: - No flexibility in their hybrid policy: If you join Checkout, you must come 3 days per week in the office. There are some exceptions, i.e., if you are sick or for extraordinary causes. I really feel this policy hurts more than helps; most of the talent are going to competitors precisely for this reason, and for work/life balance, this is pretty bad. - Mandatory out-of-hours on-call. It is quite generous (50% of your hourly salary), however, if you are in a team with a lot of incidents (i.e., core teams), get yourself prepared. If you get an offer, make sure it's not a critical team to avoid this. - Perks are not really perks: they come as a deduction from your salary. For example, private health insurance. You need to sacrifice ~£100/month to get this "perk", as well as others, which I found a bit ridiculous. - The free lunches are terrible. Sorry, but it is the truth. I would suggest management radically change the free lunches approach and either offer vouchers to employees or a self-service catering like other tech companies do.

Make Checkout Great Again

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

October 10, 2025

Pros: - Good salary. They also offer a generous bonus at the end of the year, which is rare in this industry. - Tech stack is very interesting. You're gonna learn a lot of infrastructure as well as AI and data engineering if you end up in a good team. - People are very smart and in general very motivated. If you enjoy building cool stuff, this is the place to go.

Cons: - No flexibility in their hybrid policy: If you join Checkout, you must come 3 days per week in the office. There are some exceptions, i.e., if you are sick or for extraordinary causes. I really feel this policy hurts more than helps; most of the talent are going to competitors precisely for this reason, and for work/life balance, this is pretty bad. - Mandatory out-of-hours on-call. It is quite generous (50% of your hourly salary), however, if you are in a team with a lot of incidents (i.e., core teams), get yourself prepared. If you get an offer, make sure it's not a critical team to avoid this. - Perks are not really perks: they come as a deduction from your salary. For example, private health insurance. You need to sacrifice ~£100/month to get this "perk", as well as others, which I found a bit ridiculous. - The free lunches are terrible. Sorry, but it is the truth. I would suggest management radically change the free lunches approach and either offer vouchers to employees or a self-service catering like other tech companies do.

Talented Team, Legacy Code

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Great team and talented engineers. Good practices.

Cons: Some legacy systems, but looking to improve.

Talented Team, Legacy Code

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Great team and talented engineers. Good practices.

Cons: Some legacy systems, but looking to improve.

Talent Wasted In Politics

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

Pros: Challenging work. Some teams have amazingly talented people, and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and develop in some areas of engineering.

Cons: Very political environment, with performance reviews unable to account for technical input and outcomes. They rely extensively on "being liked by everyone" and being agreeable with whatever nonsense managers may dream up overnight. Senior management does not care about individuals; they think everyone has the same needs as them and tries to fit everyone into the same model that works for them. The best example for this is the latest return-to-office change, which indiscriminately expects everyone to further tweak the hybrid model.

Talent Wasted In Politics

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

Pros: Challenging work. Some teams have amazingly talented people, and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and develop in some areas of engineering.

Cons: Very political environment, with performance reviews unable to account for technical input and outcomes. They rely extensively on "being liked by everyone" and being agreeable with whatever nonsense managers may dream up overnight. Senior management does not care about individuals; they think everyone has the same needs as them and tries to fit everyone into the same model that works for them. The best example for this is the latest return-to-office change, which indiscriminately expects everyone to further tweak the hybrid model.

Make Checkout Great Again

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

October 10, 2025

Pros: - Good salary. They also offer a generous bonus at the end of the year, which is rare in this industry. - Tech stack is very interesting. You're gonna learn a lot of infrastructure as well as AI and data engineering if you end up in a good team. - People are very smart and in general very motivated. If you enjoy building cool stuff, this is the place to go.

Cons: - No flexibility in their hybrid policy: If you join Checkout, you must come 3 days per week in the office. There are some exceptions, i.e., if you are sick or for extraordinary causes. I really feel this policy hurts more than helps; most of the talent are going to competitors precisely for this reason, and for work/life balance, this is pretty bad. - Mandatory out-of-hours on-call. It is quite generous (50% of your hourly salary), however, if you are in a team with a lot of incidents (i.e., core teams), get yourself prepared. If you get an offer, make sure it's not a critical team to avoid this. - Perks are not really perks: they come as a deduction from your salary. For example, private health insurance. You need to sacrifice ~£100/month to get this "perk", as well as others, which I found a bit ridiculous. - The free lunches are terrible. Sorry, but it is the truth. I would suggest management radically change the free lunches approach and either offer vouchers to employees or a self-service catering like other tech companies do.

3.0
Make Checkout Great Again
Software Engineer • Current Employee
London, England, United Kingdom
October 10, 2025
Pros: - Good salary. They also offer a generous bonus at the end of the year, which is rare in this industry. - Tech stack is very interesting. You're gonna learn a lot of infrastructure as well as AI and data engineering if you end up in a good team. - People are very smart and in general very motivated. If you enjoy building cool stuff, this is the place to go.
Cons: - No flexibility in their hybrid policy: If you join Checkout, you must come 3 days per week in the office. There are some exceptions, i.e., if you are sick or for extraordinary causes. I really feel this policy hurts more than helps; most of the talent are going to competitors precisely for this reason, and for work/life balance, this is pretty bad. - Mandatory out-of-hours on-call. It is quite generous (50% of your hourly salary), however, if you are in a team with a lot of incidents (i.e., core teams), get yourself prepared. If you get an offer, make sure it's not a critical team to avoid this. - Perks are not really perks: they come as a deduction from your salary. For example, private health insurance. You need to sacrifice ~£100/month to get this "perk", as well as others, which I found a bit ridiculous. - The free lunches are terrible. Sorry, but it is the truth. I would suggest management radically change the free lunches approach and either offer vouchers to employees or a self-service catering like other tech companies do.

Talented Team, Legacy Code

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Great team and talented engineers. Good practices.

Cons: Some legacy systems, but looking to improve.

4.0
Talented Team, Legacy Code
Software Engineer • Former Employee
May 7, 2023
Pros: Great team and talented engineers. Good practices.
Cons: Some legacy systems, but looking to improve.

Talent Wasted In Politics

Software Engineer • Current Employee

London, England, United Kingdom

Pros: Challenging work. Some teams have amazingly talented people, and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and develop in some areas of engineering.

Cons: Very political environment, with performance reviews unable to account for technical input and outcomes. They rely extensively on "being liked by everyone" and being agreeable with whatever nonsense managers may dream up overnight. Senior management does not care about individuals; they think everyone has the same needs as them and tries to fit everyone into the same model that works for them. The best example for this is the latest return-to-office change, which indiscriminately expects everyone to further tweak the hybrid model.

1.0
Talent Wasted In Politics
Software Engineer • Current Employee
London, England, United Kingdom
March 18, 2023
Pros: Challenging work. Some teams have amazingly talented people, and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and develop in some areas of engineering.
Cons: Very political environment, with performance reviews unable to account for technical input and outcomes. They rely extensively on "being liked by everyone" and being agreeable with whatever nonsense managers may dream up overnight. Senior management does not care about individuals; they think everyone has the same needs as them and tries to fit everyone into the same model that works for them. The best example for this is the latest return-to-office change, which indiscriminately expects everyone to further tweak the hybrid model.

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