Prep notes for Problem Solving interview

1. Why do we do problem solving interviews?

Problem solving is a key part of the way we approach Product at Revolut. When our CEO
started the company in 2015, he had no previous experience in payments or remittance. So
the question of how we could allow our customers to exchange and transfer money using a
very cheap rate was a completely new challenge for him to solve. He talked to people in the
payment industry, did his own research and collected relevant information, then derived a
solution using the data he collected, and eventually built our business. Fast forward 9 years
later we are at a company of over 9,000 people and we are looking for strong problem
solvers who have a structured approach to tackle any problems we are going toface in our
next stage of exponential growth.

The interview is intended to give us an understanding of how you approach problems and
data, as well as how you create solutions. It’s also intended to help us understand your
communication style and how you respond to feedback.

The interviewer will give you an ambiguous problem, and you will have to ask a lot of
questions to narrow the problem down and clearly define it. The interview will be completely
interactive and interviewee-led - you won’t receive data or prep without you asking for it, and
it will be up to you to get the information you need to come up with creative solutions.

The interviewer will be accessing you through 3 key criteria:

1. Diagnostics (how to you contextualize the case by asking the right questions to
gather empirical data, how you get to the root causes of the problem)
2. Solutions (what do you prioritize, how practical is the solution, does the solution
make sense?)
3. Approach (how do you drive the case, how effective is your questioning, how do you
respond to feedback)

Remember that even if the question is very similar to a problem that you have solved before,
please do not jump into talking about how you solved a previous problem.

Diagnostics

First of all, the key thing to keep in mind is that we cannot solve problems without broad
understanding and robust data. The key to doing well is to ask broad questions and ensure
you have as much context as possible. You may have to rephrase the question to make sure
you understand what the goal is,e.g. “Why are we looking to solve this problem?”, then to
understand the situation - such as, “how much time do I have to solve this problem (as in
implementing the solutions)?”, “What countries are we looking at?”, “What departments are
we talking about?”. Then further dive into the problem with your follow up questions.

Throughout this process, you should put yourself in the shoes of someone working internally
and demonstrate business empathy in order to understand what goes wrong. For example, if
it's a growth related question, it can be as ambiguous as “How would you help us grow?”.

For this, you’ll need to define what growth is and don’t assume growth means
 Prep notes for Problem Solving interview

number of customers, because then you’ll be assuming that we are acquiring customers at a
profit, not a loss.

You can ask questions like: First of all, why are you looking to grow? What’s your definition
of growth? Is it revenue growth, margin growth, customer growth, what exactly are you
looking to get out of this? What are the timelines involved - because the levers for growth for
6 months of explosive growth are very different to the lever for 10 years of sustained growth
and so on.

The more relevant questions you ask, the more data you have to deconstruct and evaluate
the problem until you get to the root causes. Please make sure you identify more than one
root cause of the problem.

Solution

After you’ve found the information you’re looking for and feel you can make appropriate
proposals, you’ll move onto the solutions part of the interview.

There are a few things to focus on here:

★ Link your recommendations logically and in a structured way to the diagnostics you
did in the first step.
★ Ensure that they flow easily and in a way that the interviewer can understand and
digest.
★ Prioritize what you think are the best solutions. If one option is 20% quicker but
involves us getting a vendor involved for several hundred thousand pounds, it might
not be the best option! Make sure you list the pros and cons. Also please ensure that
you give concise, and critical solutions to the problem.
★ Remember - there might be more than one solution, and there is no right or wrong
answer. All you need to do is to think about the pros and cons, time needed to
implement the action versus the time constraints, then propose the best actions to
take.

Approach

Your problem-solving approach will be accessed throughout the interview. The interviewer
will be looking to gauge how effectively you deployed questioning, how you got to the root
causes and how structured you were. The interviewer will also be looking at how you
respond to the feedback they give you within the interview. For example, if he/she nudges
you in a direction, do you take on the feedback well and respond in a pacey and focussed
fashion?

Last reminder, please focus on questioning and data, and think about Diagnostics, Solutions
and how you drive both these points. DO NOT JUMP STRAIGHT TO CONCLUSION.

And that's it! The last minutes of the call will be dedicated to open questions or answer any
questions you might have about the role or the business.
 Prep notes for Problem Solving interview

Extra tips:

★ Don't assume anything! Instead of answering, start by asking all the questions that
you will need to get the most valuable data and information to ultimately get that
solution.
★ Don't go back to previous similar problems you have faced, avoid speaking about
previous companies. You need to see this as a completely new and individual
challenge to you, so please, don't copy and paste any solutions
★ Challenge the interviewer back with as many questions as you need. You will be
responsible for driving the conversation, if you don't ask, this person won't speak
★ Don't copy and paste any solution, don't say "at my previous company we had a
similar situation and we did this...", instead, tread this a completely new challenge to
you.
★ This will be an interviewee driven conversation, so the dynamic will be more of a
ping-pong chatting where you and the interviewer will be constantly exchanging
information and ideas. However, if you don't have the initiative to ask the right
questions or to gather the information and data needed, then unfortunately the
interviewer will share limited information with you.
★ IMPORTANT: the least guidance the interviewer gives you, the better
★ Look online for the MECE Principle. You don't need to use this approach, but it might
be helpful.