I applied online. I interviewed at Ocado Retail (Hatfield, East of England, England) in Feb 2026
Interview
First an initial online application (CV + cover letter), followed by invitiation to complete SHL assessments. These included tests about ability (inductive/deductive reasoning, maths) and a SJT test. Was then invited to complete a pre-recorded video interview (they provided the questions in advance to help with preparation). Finally invited to an assessment day in their Hatfield office.
This included presenting a pre-assigned modelling task (based on their business/customer context) and answering questions on this. Next was a 1:1 interview with a member of the data science team where we were given a handout on linear regression model and asked to explain and answer as many questions about this as possible, and also a handout on a code snippet in Python where we had to answer questions about this, followed as some other behavioural questions. Then was a lunch/informal session with current grads in the same area.
The final task of the day was a group session with about 3 others where we were given handout with data relevant to Ocado's business context, and we had to discuss recommendations together based on this and present to 2 assessors with follow up questions afterwards.
Overall the process was good, with each stage taking no more than 2-3 weeks and regular, clear communication throughout. Assessment day went smoothly, even if some of the technical questions asked were challenging for me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you recently used a data science technique
Tell me about a time when you involved others in a group task
What do you think are the biggest data science opportunities for Ocado Retail at the moment?
I applied in-person. I interviewed at Ocado Retail in Jun 2026
Interview
The interview process goes well, I could enter to initial hiring manager stage, but the feedback after the interview was bad and without explicitaly mentioned on what part goes wrong on my response and interview process, make difficult to justify if the feedback was valid.
The feedback was not justfiied, it says "...xxx was clearly passionate about AI but struggled to clearly articulate some of his answers. A lot of his answers lacked a clear structure and were quite difficult to follow. He required probing on a critical question about AI resistance, and didn't display a lot of product management expertise."
Based on the comment and compared to the transcript Odaco provided, I did not feel it's a fair, transparent process when getting back the information. What I feel is the hiring manager trying to dismiss my product management expertise, or even hiding his own agenda by fabricating such feedback.
When I object and also ask for clarity based on the transcript and feedback, the HR only used wording as "While we understand you disagree with the interview panel's assessment, this is the teams final decision."
That's how the company treated candidate with relevent experience in a unrespectful way, and such ways of dealing things have created bad feeling for candidate like me, not to mention how bad process Odaco is dealing with the candidate.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
And then when you go into a team and you start talking about using AI to augment processes, what sort of barriers would you expect to encounter?
Telephone call, lasted 10 mins. Felt very tick boxy, very cold call from the recruiter, didn’t show a lot of interest in me personally. Didn’t get the best impression about the business from the start.