Karat Redo Interview: The 24-Hour Rule and What Employers See

Karat lets any candidate request a second interview within 24 hours of the first, with a new set of questions and a new Interview Engineer. As of September 9, 2026, Karat documents that both results are sent to the employer and that it recommends the employer use the higher score. The redo does not erase the first attempt, and reschedules across all Karat interviews are capped at two. This article lays out the policy as Karat publishes it, the numbers Karat reports, and how to decide whether to use it.

Who can request a redo

Everyone. Karat's guide to technical interviews states that "Every candidate [has] the option to redo their technical interview if they're not happy with how they did in the initial interview." Karat's 2022 article on the program adds that candidates know in advance: "A candidate interviews with Karat and they know they have the opportunity to retake their interview again if they'd like." You do not need a technical failure or a special reason. Feeling that the hour did not represent you is the stated trigger.

How the redo works

Karat's redo interviews page documents the sequence:

1. "Candidate requests a Redo interview within 24 hours of their original interview."
2. "Karat sends Redo invitation to candidate to choose their Redo day and time."
3. "Candidate schedules and completes their Redo interview, with a new set of questions."
4. "Karat publishes both recommendations to the client, who decides whether to advance the candidate."

Karat's article on the program confirms the second interview uses "a new set of questions and a new interviewer." You will not see the same problems, and the person scoring you will not have watched your first attempt.

The 24-hour window starts at the end of the first interview. Karat's documentation does not describe extensions, so treat it as firm and decide the same day.

The employer sees both results

This is the part candidates most often misunderstand. The redo is not a replacement. Karat's article states: "Karat publishes both recommendations to our client, and we recommend they review the higher of the two scores." The recommendation is Karat's; the decision is the employer's. An employer following Karat's guidance looks at your best hour. An employer reading both reports side by side sees the first one too.

That means a redo cannot hurt you under Karat's recommended practice, and it can only help if the second score is higher. It also means the first interview's recording, code playback, and report still exist and are still delivered. The full list of what that package contains is in what a Karat interview records, scores, and keeps.

Karat's numbers on redos

Karat publishes outcome figures for the program, all from its own client data:

• The redo page reports a 20% increase in candidate advancement, a 14% improvement in hiring yield, and a 9% reduction in false negatives.
• The 2022 article reports "an overall hiring yield increase of 17% due to the redo" across the prior year, and nearly 1,000 hires who had completed a redo.
• The same article says nearly 60% of Black candidates improve their score on the redo and that one in five underrepresented hires within Karat's platform came from redos.

These are vendor figures, dated 2022 for the article, and Karat has a commercial reason to publish them. They do support one practical inference: a meaningful share of candidates score higher the second time, which is why Karat built the program.

Reschedules are capped

Booking is separate from the redo itself, and it is limited. Karat's Candidate Resource FAQ states: "You may reschedule a total of two times across all interviews, including Redo interviews." If you moved the first interview twice, you cannot move the redo at all. Pick a redo slot you can keep.

Karat's documentation does not state a limit on the number of redos, but the process describes one second attempt and nothing about a third. Plan on exactly one.

Should you request one?

Request it when something specific went wrong that a second hour would fix: a connection drop, a problem you froze on but understand, a section where nerves cost you the explanation. Karat's own reasoning is that redos reduce "the likelihood that factors like a candidate's nerves, how their day is going, or their familiarity with interviewing will obscure their true talents."

Skip it when the first interview went well and you are tempted only by the option. A second score that is lower does not, under Karat's guidance, replace a higher first one, but it is another hour and another report an employer may read. If the recruiter has already advanced you, ask before booking; the redo is a Karat mechanism and the employer's process may have moved on.

If you are unsure how the first hour was scored, the structure and rubric are described in what to expect in a Karat interview.

What this means for candidates

You have one second chance, a 24-hour window to claim it, new questions and a new interviewer if you do, and an employer who will see both reports. Use the window when you can name what you would do differently. Book the redo at a time you are certain to keep, since reschedules are shared with the original. And prepare for the same format again; the questions change, the structure does not. For what the invitation itself means, start with what a Karat interview is.