Okta Interview Guide: Your Path to Joining a Leading Security Company
Prepare for your Okta interview like a pro! Gain valuable insights into the company, understand the interview process, and shine during your interview.
Interviews are intimidating and nerve-wracking. You can be the most successful and experienced person and still get the shakes.
Don’t worry; we're here to help.
We’ve prepared a guide to the Okta interview to help you through the interview process from start to finish, including Okta interview questions, how to prepare, and what the company looks for.
Who is Okta?
Okta is an identity and access management software system that allows organizations to add authorization and user authentication services to their apps.
Companies can get scalable user authentication added to their apps which can help save money associated with maintenance, security, and development.
The great thing with Okta is that any application, regardless of what stack or language it’s running on, can connect to Okta. The Okta user logs in and advises how they want their users to log in, and Okta authenticates and authorizes this process.
Plus... There are built-in reports where Okta users can monitor the service, keeping them in the loop at all times.
So, what makes Okta so appealing?
It works for cloud, on-premises, and mobile; it has over 5,000 cloud application integrations and is constantly updated on security compliance.
Additionally, the identity and access management software system has worked with some big-name businesses, including:
- T Mobile
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Slack
- Quora
- Groupon
- United Nations Foundations
- Nordstrom
- Grubhub
- Renault
- Sephora
- Spotify
- Lyft
- FedEx
These are just a few of over 3,000 customers worldwide.
Okta Interview Process
Now that we know why working at Okta is an excellent decision, let’s see what the interview process is like:
- Apply via the Okta careers page.
- Phone interview (recruiter): A short interview where you discuss what you know about Okta, your background, and your goals.
- Video or phone interview with a hiring manager: Another short interview (30 minutes). You’ll explore your experience, information about Okta, and background.
- The second interview with a hiring manager: Another hiring manager interviewed you to discuss the same as above with possibly more in-depth questions about your experience.
- Technical assignment: Here, you’ll have around 20 challenges to complete over two weeks. You must complete at least four and then present your assignments to senior managers and hiring managers.
- Interview (in-person): You’ll meet at the office base in your location to get to know a few people you’ll be working with. There may also be a test to see if you can complete the tasks required for your role.
As you can see, Okta has quite an extensive hiring process. While it might seem like a lot, the company must hire the right candidates.
While we can’t give you the answers, we can make recommendations.
- Look for ways to talk about your experience in a way that aligns with the job requirements.
- When selecting challenges, choose ones you know you’ll thrive in. This is not the time to challenge yourself, and it’s a time to show what you do best.
- Ensure you have enough information about Okta. You’ll notice in the next section that the company will ask what you know about the company and why you’re a good fit. So, go in with enough information to impress.
Okta Interview Questions
Let’s look at some example questions you may be asked at any point during your interview at Okta. We’ve categorized the questions based on experience because they get more challenging for roles requiring more experience.
The questions will vary based on the position. Most of the questions are for those on the technical side.
Beginners/Entry-level
- What can you tell me about Okta?
- What do you know about Okta authentication?
- What do you believe are the benefits of the Okta Universal directory?
- What is security assertion markup language (SAML)?
- Provide a few examples of multi-factor authentication.
- What is the difference between a server and a SCIM connector?
- Can Okta access user logins?
Intermediates
- How would you set up email notifications for new users?
- Provide a few examples of 3-factor authentication.
- Can users provide multiple mobile numbers for Okta multi-factor authentications?
- What do you believe is the purpose of a tasks page?
- How would you add Okta factors for Java?
- How does one create an Okta API token?
- What are the benefits of Okta SAML?
Would you like a 4 day work week?
Experts
- How do you create a new notification dialogue box?
- How can Okta admin delete notifications?
- How would you give priority to password policies?
- What is the purpose of delegate authentication?
- How would you define identity providers?
- What do you believe are the benefits of social authentication?
- Why do you think Google Workspace and Okta work together so well? (user provisioning and secure single sign-on).
- Can you modify the text of the MFA Prompt?
Positions Available at Okta
Here is a list of a few current employees at Okta:
- Account executive
- Digital marketing lead
- Accountant
- Sales
- Software engineer
- Software Developer
- Software architect
- PR
- Data analyst
- Solutions Engineer
- Account executive
What is Okta Looking For?
The requirements will differ based on the role. For example, looking at a job description for a senior software engineer, Okta is looking for an employee with the following:
- At least four years of experience in the software development field.
- Experience working with MongoDB, Redis, PostgreSQL, and/or Kafka.
- Comfortable working in a fully-distributed team.
- Have extreme attention to detail and the ability to remain accountable.
- Skilled in Node, Golang, or Typescript.
- Comfortable delivering work incrementally to receive feedback and suggestions.
- Knowledge of IP, HTTP, and TCP fundamentals.
- Have a passion for the online security field and a desire to make the online space safer for all.
How to Prepare for a Job Interview at Okta
Do your homework
As you can see, based on the above information, you need to have quite extensive knowledge of Okta as a company. You’ll need to prepare for company-based questions. The only way to do this is by sitting down and looking through the Okta website.
Look at their values and how you can align those with your own. Interviewers can genuinely tell if you’re making stuff up, so try to come from an honest place when using the company values to your advantage.
Additionally, have a look at current customers. You might mention one or two top ones when asked to provide examples.
For example, "If I were Sephora, I would focus on (insert recommendation here). Okta makes this possible by (insert recommendation here)."
Prepare your personal elevator pitch
The company wants to get to know you, so they ask questions like “Why do you think you’re a good fit for this position.” It’s tempting, but this isn’t the time to tell your life story. Prepare a one or two-minute pitch on yourself.
This should include the following:
- Education
- Previous positions
- Possibly something fun about yourself (only if it feels right)
- A relevant project you’re most proud of
If the company wants more insight, they will ask for it. This generally comes up in questions around your positive and negative attributes, so have those prepared too.
Experience examples
Look for opportunities to bring in your personal experience to display how you could solve a problem based on what you already know.
Here you can use the STAR method to get the information out effectively:
- Situation (Set the scene)
- Task (Your role in the situation)
- Action (What you did to resolve it)
- Result (The outcomes of your actions)
We recommend having at least three examples of your previous experience that can be generalized to multiple problem-solving questions.
FAQ
Is it difficult to get a job at Okta?
There’s no easy way to answer this. Like all successful companies, Okta looks for very specific types of people passionate about online security. If you’re the right fit, obtaining a job should be a breeze if you prepare for the interview properly.
Why are there so many interviews?
Okta wants the best. That means they have an extensive interview process to find people with the knowledge, experience, problem-solving skills, and right attitude. Evaluating this in one interview is impossible, so they do it in stages to get to know potential employees.
Wrap Up
Okta is a fantastic place to work. It is a leader in its field, constantly striving for the best online security. Okta is the gold standard for work opportunities if you are passionate about this.
But to get the job, you need to prepare for your interview. So, we hope our Okta interview process guide helps you understand what’s required and how you can succeed.
Good luck, you’ve got this!
Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/okta-inc-/people/
https://www.pathmatch.com/companies/okta
https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Interview/Okta-Interview-Questions-E444756.htm
https://www.okta.com/company/careers/#careers-job-postings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11SL-NnGp4E
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/blogs-careers/5-tips-for-interview-success
