I applied online. The process took 3+ months. I interviewed at Spotify (Stockholm, Stockholm) in Aug 2016
Interview
Maybe some time ago the Spotify was a great company, but not anymore.
The interview process took almost half a year. I applied online through their website. After a week or two I received a call from HR. At the end of our interview she told that she liked me and said that the next step interview will be scheduled.
AFTER 4 MONTHS they scheduled a interview with engineer from one of the teams. The interview with engineer was quite simple and there were almost basic questions:
1. Write code to revert a string
2. Check if two strings are anagrams
3. Check if the string is palindrome.
4. How garbage collection works
5. What is reference counting(follow up question about cycles)
The engineer was happy with my answers and told that they will contact me in a week, and said good luck in further process.
After a week they obviously didn't contact me and I wrote the email to the HR. The HR told that they do not have status about my application and told that they will let me know as soon as possible.
AFTER three weeks they still didn't let me know anything.
It was a worst interview experience in my life. I would never ever work in this stupid company.
I hope that the people responsible for that will be fired.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Write code to revert a string
2. Check if two strings are anagrams
3. Check if the string is palindrome.
4. How garbage collection works
5. What is reference counting(follow up question about cycles)
One of the most disrespectful interview processes I've ever been a part of. First stage was a call with a recruiter, which went fine although there was more than a whiff of wannabe silicon valley waffle from his end.
I progressed and was booked in for a 2nd stage with an engineer. However on the day of the interview it was cancelled as I was told there were scheduling conflicts. Ok fine, it happens. The interview was rearranged for the following week - when the same thing happened again! Interview cancelled on the day due to scheduling conflicts. Booked in again for the following week (third time lucky?) and this time it wasn't cancelled on the day. BUT I joined the call and no-one showed up! After 10-15 minutes I emailed the recruiter who told me the interviewer was off sick but apparently hadn't told anyone?
Finally at the fourth attempt I had my interview with an engineer. It was 75 minutes and consisted of a discussion about a recent project as well as some technical questions and a leetcode task (2 largest elements). It seemed to go ok and I was told I would hear back soon. However after 2 weeks I hadn't heard anything so I decided to email the recruiter asking for an update. That was almost a month ago and as of yet I've still heard nothing back. I'm fine with not passing an interview but I expect at least a cursory "thanks but no thanks" but apparently even that is asking too much.
This whole experience has left me almost glad I wasn't progressed - if this is an insight into life at Spotify I'm happy to not work there. This kind of behaviour shows a complete lack of respect for candidates and their time, so I dread to think how they treat their employees.
I applied online. I interviewed at Spotify (New York, NY) in May 2026
Interview
Spoke with a recruiter, was ghosted after the interview. He asked all the standard questions - why Spotify, expected level, salary expectation, what are the priorities, why left previous company, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was the most complicated project you were working on in your previous company?
Initial HR Call and screening, then arround two weeks later leet code task, followed by on-site architectural/design test and the final culture fit check with HR/Managers. Overall the process was 3-4 weeks.
Software Developer applicants have rated the interview process at Spotify with 3.1 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 46% positive. To compare, the company-average is 47.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Developer roles take an average of 29 days to get hired, when considering 72 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Spotify overall takes an average of 39 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Spotify as a Software Developer according to 72 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 34%
One on one interview: 21%
Skills test: 13%
Presentation: 10%
Group panel interview: 9%
Other: 3%
Background check: 2%
Drug test: 2%
IQ intelligence test: 2%
Personality test: 2%
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