Kraken interview questions

The interview process began with an initial conversation with the recruiter, Amy, followed by interviews with the manager and the team director. Amy provided a clear outline of what to expect, including timelines and interview details. She also kept me well-informed throughout the process, ensuring I was never uncertain about the next steps. This was really appreciated. The interviews with the manager and director focused on discussing past experiences, my motivation for applying to their role, and some technical accounting questions. Overall, the process was very smooth, and the communication was excellent. I am very excited to start my new role at Kraken!

I have mixed feelings about the recruitment process and the team I’ve encountered so far, to be honest. I applied for the role three weeks ago and was contacted the very same day, with an interview quickly scheduled in the following days. The HR representative was friendly and even mentioned the “chaotic environment.” I wasn’t too concerned about that since, as a Project Manager, one of the key skills is to stay composed when everything falls apart. Step 1 went well, and two days later, I received an email to schedule Step 2, which was arranged promptly. However, I noticed something odd: I had no idea who I was meeting. The invite didn’t include names, and when I asked, the HR representative only mentioned their roles, nothing more, which felt quite strange to me. Step 2 was a more technical interview meant to dive into my expertise and assess cultural fit. The two interviewers I met were friendly, but I couldn’t help noticing that whenever I said something they perhaps didn’t expect, one of them would visibly turn red and seem upset. This made me uncomfortable, and at one point, I even joked, smiling, “You obviously don’t like what I’m saying.” The entire interview felt poorly managed and dismissive of the Project Manager role. One of the interviewers kept emphasizing that their team (future colleagues with the same functions) disliked being referred to as Project Managers, which was bizarre since I applied for a PM role. This same interviewer also seemed to diminish my experience and skill set, as if my 10 years of expertise were insignificant for the role. It was clear he either didn’t understand or didn’t value the contributions of Project Managers, which I found concerning. By the end of the conversation, I felt that his approach was less about assessing my fit for the role and more about undermining my confidence—possibly as a tactic to lower my salary expectations. Despite the interesting chat, it became evident that I couldn’t work for someone who doesn’t value the expertise I bring to the table and exhibits such a closed-minded attitude toward Project Managers. After that interview, I decided to withdraw my application.