I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Acorn Insurance and Financial Services in Mar 2026
Interview
From my understanding, the interview process consisted of four stages; initial call with internal recruitment team to discuss the role/salary, a semi-informal call with the hiring manager to run through experience (no structured questions), an in-person technical assessment and then a final interview with the team for fit/values etc. I had the initial call with the internal recruiter, the chat with the hiring manager and then didn't progress further.
Unfortunately, my interaction with Acorn didn't match my expectations. The recruiter was lovely; friendly and warm, the hiring manager was equally friendly and had a very relaxed and exploratory approach. However, I was told that I would hear back on next steps if I progressed but sadly I didn't. I completely understand if my experience/skill set didn't meet their needs, that part is ok, but I'm really disappointed that I was completely ghosted even when I chased up my progress with the internal recruiter. I had informed both the recruiter and HM that I'd been made redundant and was trying finding my feet during a difficult period. Having the courtesy to provide feedback or even simply tell me 'no' would had really helped.
For me, this is one of those situations where the company values sound great on paper but are not really embedded into the culture.
I applied online. I interviewed at Acorn Insurance and Financial Services (Liverpool, England) in Jan 2026
Interview
HR interview following CV shortlist. Asked general questions about background, skills, and job practicalities such as hybrid days, owning a computer and being able to commute.
Three online assessments, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and psychometric.
Assessment centre style day with 23 candidates, group tasks - icebreaker spaghetti tower building, and developing a technical presentation. Opportunity to talk with departmental managers and staff.
Individual interview.
Day lasted from 9am to 4pm.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you start thinking about building a program?
How would you test your program?
How is data used to generate an insurance quote?
Are there gaps in your knowledge you'd like to develop?
I interviewed at Acorn Insurance and Financial Services (Liverpool, England)
Interview
Informal chat and compency questions. Relaxed atmosphere and aware I hadn't interviewed for many years. I say prepare less about the company and more basic, eg. tell us about a time you changed the performance to improve results. Knowing the job wasn't enough for me, I fluffed my lines, but they are reasonablely simple questions
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about a time you improved the performance of someone. What did you do and what was the result.