Citymapper Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in October 2017.

Interview

Most people are bright and nice. There is some top talent at Citymapper, no doubt about it. However, my interview with the CEO really killed it for me. I was constantly interrupted, and a review of my CV turned into him questioning my life decisions. He even said he didn't really see the need for comms when the product was so good... so then it was on me to defend why Citymapper might need marketing as a function of the business—what a waste of time? Everyone seemed to work late and appeared strained, stressed out, or downright just barely keeping it together. It seems like CEO's belittling style could have served him well in his former life in finance but if his management style is anything like his interviewing style then working with him is probably a nightmare.

Other warning signs:
- Person crying in the bathroom
- I was kept waiting up to 15-30 minutes before each interview
- lnterviews were spontaneously added on as the day went on
- CEO rolled his eyes and scoffed at my question about holidays and health coverage, saying he didn't know much about that stuff and it was "whatever the minimum was"

I 1) cried on the bus home and 2) sighed with relief when I didn't get an offer—pretty sure the environment would have skinned me. In a small company, the leadership can wield a huge influence on the culture. It is disappointing that such a cheerful, well-designed, humorous product would emerge from an environment so toxic.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Citymapper in December 2018.

Interview

Applied and was contacted to arrange a preliminary phone interview, which lasted about 30-40 minutes. Questions were based on work experience and understanding of Citymapper. A lot of questions about their operations.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in June 2018.

Interview

20-minute call followed by a tech test. The call was good. Very easy and really nice interviewer. However, the tech test was way above my skillset at the moment but I learnt a lot by trying to complete it.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)).

Interview

Skype video interview to which the interviewer was a little late, and did not have a proper internet connection so it disconnected several times and then resorted to disconnecting the video feed for a skype phone call, with a poor quality mic.

The interviewer had been at the company for 4 months, if that's pertinant (still on probhation???) though he seemed to know his technical knowledge.

Some questions were a little confusing and not elaborated on when asked.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in July 2016.

Interview

Well, I saw the bad experiences on this website but thought it might be different for software engineers, right? WRONG.

After an introductory phone call, I was asked to complete an at-home assignment of full stack development that would take "2 or 3 evenings" (in their words). I sent the result and despite multiple follow ups, have not received a single word of reply or acknowledgment. I emailed Workable and they confirmed the problem was not on their end.

Worst interview experience ever!

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 days. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in January 2017.

Interview

An employee had posted the job notice, I emailed him directly. Someone reached out to schedule a chat with an engineer.
I was very impressed by how fast the process took and how the product was loved.
During the phone call, I noticed the connection was poor and asked him to talk slowly because of it. He asked about an item in about my current job in CV and its details and how it could be improved. I answered with some background about the problem I solved.
He then asked me to join him in an online collaboration doc for the technical part. connection dropped about 6-7 times and he kept calling. I was having difficulty hearing him clearly. I was thinking about the problem when it dropped again and he did not call. After about 10mins he sent an email and said my english was not good enough for the team. I mentioned the poor connection and how difficult it was to hear him but no reply since.
I was really excited to be interviewing here and possibility of joining somewhere with a product with its scale and impact on users, but after reading reviews here I am again assured that it is not a place I would want to work.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in September 2016.

Interview

1) Face-to-face with several engineers.
2) Face-to-face with CEO
3) Face-to-face with 2 engineers and office manager
4) Phone call with engineer
5) Salary negotiation and reference request
6) Rejection

Submitted CV through website. Was invited straight to in-person interview without a phone / online screening. They interviewed me for a few hours. Not that technical, mostly asking about my experience and about transport. One whiteboard question on designing an API. Then called me back to meet the CEO which was rather unpleasant. I was made to wait for him for at least 3.5 hours after the scheduled time. I was not allowed to wait in the office reception but had to leave and wait to be called back which I found bizarre. When the CEO finally met with me, he was rude and condescending. The only interview I've had that I'd describe as 'confrontational'. Perhaps just a bit protective of his business, but when looking back at the other comments from former employees it is clear that the management are over-demanding and like to shout at their employees. After this experience I very cautiously accepted to come back and meet the office manager for a final decision. This actually ended up being another interview with an engineer as well. I touched on the CEO's manner with them and they didn't seem surprised. In fact one of them has been known to say that working for Citymapper is like S&M! Basically, the tech could be interesting if you are very into public transport but the work environment is possibly one of the worst. Ruled by fear. While their product is good, I can't see anything good coming of this place in the future unless the management style completely changes. They think it is OK to overwork and repress their engineers. They said they were making me an offer but I was already sure there was something odd about the place. Anyway, it eventually fell through as it was much lower than I had asked for at the first interview. Overall the interview process wasted a lot of my time with them calling me back again and again but luckily it helped me realise that it is a terrible place to work. They were very indecisive, with the engineer telling me I was being made an offer and then later being told that the management had decided against it. They will waste your time.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took a week. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in January 2018.

Interview

Filled in an online application, which had fairly open and quite interesting questions. Then had a telephone interview with the software engineering lead, followed by a coding challenge. The telephone interview was quite informal and I was asked mostly about previous work that I had undertaken and the challenges associated with it.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ weeks. I interviewed at Citymapper (London, England (UK)) in June 2016.

Interview

After few phone interviews, I was asked to put together a detailed plan and explain how I could attack to a new market, which I had found really odd. Reading other experiences here makes me think that might be a "strategy" to get market insights. Breaking point for me was the meeting with the CEO/Founder; very un-inspiring with really poor communication skills.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Citymapper.

Interview

It was a phone call, during which we had a normal interview chat, questions on jobs and background. The tone of the chat was informal and quite friendly, and the interview was not with a HR person, which is nice. It was a pleasant experience mostly focused on cv review.

Interview Questions