I applied to Shell, but I am getting redirected to write about Octopus since Shell got acquired. I submitted my application online and received and automated test which I believe takes about 45 minutes. They ask you a lot of multiple choice questions with what-if situations, then the tool sends you an assessment result where they write about your strengths and weaknesses. It all looked really good, but after about 2 days I was then sent an email that I was not selected to proceed to have a recruiter call. It all felt very impersonal and like you do the automated test for nothing, because even though the result is good you may get a general rejection response, without understanding why and no actual conversation with a recruiter, almost like when you simply apply but they don't find something specific in your CV a fit, only you spent an extra hour on an automated test that is possibly not even considered.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
automated test, multiple choice about behaviour in various work-related scenarios.
I applied online. I interviewed at Octopus Energy (London, England)
Interview
1. Cultural interview, nothing specific or technical, but are you the kind of person they want to work with and vice versa...
2. Complete-at-home coding exercise. A fairly standard REST-api exercise where the architecture and tests are the important part.
3. Talk through the exercise with two senior engineers at the company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why is it important to have so many layers of processing when making this network call, why wouldn't you just put the request inside the view model?
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Octopus Energy (London, England) in Aug 2025
Interview
After a brief call with recruiter I was sent a technical test. I wasn't told until after completing and submitting the test that I was sent a test for the wrong role. The recruiter was very apologetic and shared that they were overworked and awaitng a holiday the next week. I prepared quite well and put a lot of effort into the first test however, and was quite burnt out and disappointed which made me drag my feet when I was sent the actual test I should have been sent in the first place. There was then minimal communication with the second recruiter, even after I asked for an extension to the deadline considering their mistake in the first place. Very frustrating interview experience, possibly the worst I've had.
Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Octopus Energy with 3.1 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 63% positive. To compare, the company-average is 90.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 30 days to get hired, when considering 8 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Octopus Energy overall takes an average of 24 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Octopus Energy as a Software Engineer according to 8 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 27%
Skills test: 18%
Background check: 18%
One on one interview: 18%
Group panel interview: 14%
Personality test: 5%
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