Did the Kroger KTD online assessment in May 2026 as part of the process for a software engineer II role. Here's the format and what I actually saw.
Platform: HackerRank. Standard setup. You get the full environment, no IDE restrictions, can use any language.
Format: 2 coding problems, 90 minutes. Plus a short multiple-choice section on CS fundamentals (maybe 10 questions, 10 minutes). The multiple-choice was basic: Big-O notation, SQL joins, some OOP concepts. Nothing weird.
Difficulty of the coding problems: One was straightforward array manipulation. Classic medium-tier stuff, like tracking running totals or grouping items. Second one was trickier: involved graph traversal, BFS variant. I'd call it a solid LeetCode medium verging on hard. Not the hardest thing I've done on a loop, but you need to actually know your data structures.
I used Python and didn't feel penalized for it. Solutions just needed to pass the test cases.
Time pressure: 90 minutes for 2 problems is reasonable if you've been grinding. I finished with about 20 minutes left. If you're rusty on graphs, that second problem might eat your clock.
What they're not testing: System design isn't part of the OA. No open-ended questions. No architecture. Pure coding.
After the OA, I heard back in about five business days to schedule the next round (phone screen with an engineer). So they do move but it's not Amazon-speed.
For context, I was applying to a hybrid role in Cincinnati. No idea if difficulty varies by location or team but I'd assume similar across KTD.
If you're wondering whether to prepare: yes, standard LeetCode medium prep is the right call. Don't skip graphs, trees, and hash maps.