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02 / Hiring process
Three stages, and one of them decides it
3 stages from application to offer. Technical assessment is reported to be the one that decides it.
3stages
01
Recruiter phone screen background, motivation, and fit
Reported to run 30 to 45 minutes, covering background, motivation, and logistical fit before any technical evaluation begins.
02
Technical assessment a 60-minute live coding round in Python or Go, or a take-home case study
Reported to be a 60-minute live coding round in Python or Go for engineering roles, or in some cases a take-home case study assessment for non-engineering roles, used as the primary technical filter.
03
Final technical loop a technical deep dive covering system design or ML fundamentals
Reported to include a further technical deep dive covering system design or ML fundamentals depending on role, completing a five-stage process that candidates describe running 4 to 6 weeks in total.
Ask before the interview: what will this round cover, who will I meet, and is there anything I should prepare?The question almost nobody asks
03 / Question library
Interview question practice library
The technical assessment, the final technical loop, and the three published values apply broadly across departments, so the core set below covers that ground. Each department then adds the depth specific to it.
61questions
Asked in every interviewAsked in every Cohere interview
01 Cohere builds models meant to run inside a government's own infrastructure, not just answer questions in a chat window. What draws you to that specific deployment reality, not AI broadly? Motivation Open guide
Find your angle. Checks for a reason tied to Cohere's actual sovereign AI deployment model, not generic interest in large language models or chatbots.
Build your answer
- Name the specific deployment reality: inside real institutions, not a hosted API. Not generic.
- Tie it to something real you've done or seen. Concrete.
- Say what you'd want to work on here. Specific.
Bring the evidence
Anchor the answer in the real distinction between a model deployed inside sovereign infrastructure and a hosted consumer chat product, not general AI enthusiasm.
What weakens it
AI is transforming the world and I want to work on cutting-edge models.
Likely follow upWhat do you think changes about building a model once it has to run inside someone else's infrastructure, not yours?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.02 Tell me about a time you moved quickly on something specifically because you trusted a teammate's judgment, not because you'd verified everything yourself. Trust vs Speed Open guide
Find your angle. Maps directly to Cohere's own published value 'Momentum,' which explicitly pairs speed with trusting each other, not speed alone.
Build your answer
- Describe the situation requiring speed. Concrete.
- Explain specifically what trusting the teammate looked like. Specific, not just going along.
- State whether that trust was well placed. Honest.
Bring the evidence
Name the specific thing you didn't personally verify because you trusted a teammate's judgment instead, and be honest about whether that trust paid off.
What weakens it
I move quickly but generally verify things myself before relying on them.
Likely follow upWhat would you have done if the teammate's judgment had turned out to be wrong?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.03 Describe a time a perspective genuinely different from your own changed how you approached a real piece of work. Changed Perspective Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.04 Tell me about a time you were given genuine flexibility over how to do something, and what you actually did with that latitude. Ownership Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.05 Describe a time you had to coordinate real work with people spread across genuinely different countries and time zones. Global Coordination Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.06 Tell me about a time you had to explain something technically complex to someone with no relevant background, and it actually needed to change their decision. Plain Language Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.07 Describe a time you caught your own error before it affected someone who was relying on your work. Catching Mistakes Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.08 Tell me about a time you held a position under real pushback from someone with more experience or seniority than you. Standing Firm Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.09 Describe a time you had to become genuinely competent in a subject you started out knowing nothing about, under real time pressure. Fast Learning Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.10 Tell me about a time you improved something that was working fine, and nobody had actually asked you to touch it. Unprompted Improvement Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.11 Describe a time you went well beyond your formal role to get something important done, but still recognized a real line you wouldn't cross to do it. Bounded Effort Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.12 Tell me about a time you had to make a real decision in an area where the accepted best practice was still genuinely unsettled. Ambiguity Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.13 What's a real, current gap in how you work that a company moving this fast, in a field this unsettled, would probably expose quickly? Self-Awareness Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.Business Operations6 to practise
6 questions
The questions this role actually gets asked
The core set above is asked whatever you applied for. These 6 are specific to Business Operations, and they are usually what the decision turns on.
Create a free accountWhat you get
Less than the cost of one lunch, for a great deal more confidence.- Unlimited tailored interview preparation
- A massive database of actual questions and answer guides
Role specific
Pick your role and the list narrows to what that role tends to get asked.
A guide for every answer
What the question is testing, three steps to build your answer, and the evidence to bring.
Prepared, not guessing
You walk in knowing the shape of the round and which of your own stories fits it.
04 / In the news
Worth mentioning in the room
The strongest answer to why this company is something that happened last month.
4stories
Free account
What happened at this employer this month
Stories screened from everything published about this employer, chosen because they can be used in the room rather than because they are recent.
- Each one carries a line on how to use it in the answer
- Crime, recalls, litigation and share price moves are excluded outright
- Refreshed daily, so it is different the week of your interview
05 / The three values
What is actually being scored
Cohere publishes three core values in this exact language on its own careers site. Bring one real story for each rather than a general answer about artificial intelligence.
3stories
Momentum
A time you moved quickly and trusted a teammate's judgment enough to push forward together without waiting for full certainty.
Openness
A time you genuinely welcomed a perspective from someone different from you that changed how you approached something.
Autonomy
A time you were given real flexibility and ownership over a piece of work, and what you actually did with that latitude.
06 / Before you apply
Where candidates lose it
Pro
Where candidates lose this before anyone meets them
The part of the process that eliminates most people is not the interview. It is what happens around it, and almost none of it is written down anywhere.
- The assessment answers that read as dishonest rather than confident
- What the availability question is really deciding
- The application detail that cannot be edited once submitted
Interview in 48 Hours
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