I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Xero (Auckland, Auckland) in Jun 2022
Interview
There were 3 parts to the interview.
1) recruiter phone screening (20 mins)
Talking about current experience, expectations, etc
2) technical interview (1 hour 30 mins)
I was sent a solution with the scenario that I work for a startup and this is their product. The brief asks you to think about possible improvements.
The interview was with 2 engineers, 1 playing the role of product owner with certain requirements, the other playing the role of a colleague that will pair with you to implement said requirements. It's a collaborative process and they assisted with hints when I hit a wall.
3) behavioural interview (1 hour)
An interview with 2 people leads who ask you questions about what you goals are, how do you deal with conflict and other questions along the lines of how you work.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Do you spot any possible issues with the codebase before you?
I interviewed at Xero (Auckland, Auckland) in Mar 2026
Interview
The questions are difficult. Coding assessments: Can be live or take-home. pair programming with a given question. Behavioral + teamwork: how you work in teams, handle conflict, and resolve issues.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Xero (Melbourne) in Mar 2026
Interview
It takes too long. The questions are difficult. Also there is a behavior test, not sure whether this test is useful. The technical questions are good:
Lead technical design and implementation of complex features and systems
Write high-quality, maintainable code and automated tests
Make pragmatic architectural and technical decisions that balance short-term delivery with long-term sustainability
Coding assessments: Can be live or take-home. pair programming with a given codebase.
Behavioral + teamwork: Interview with non-engineers (e.g., PMs) to probe how you work in teams, handle conflict, and resolve issues.
Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Xero with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 82% positive. To compare, the company-average is 57.5% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 17 days to get hired, when considering 11 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Xero overall takes an average of 23 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Xero as a Software Engineer according to 11 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 24%
Group panel interview: 20%
Skills test: 16%
Presentation: 12%
One on one interview: 12%
Background check: 4%
Personality test: 4%
Drug test: 4%
IQ intelligence test: 4%
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