The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Xero (Australia Plains) in Aug 2024
Interview
R1 - 30 minute recruiter screen. | R2 - 90-minute live pair programming to add a feature to .NET codebase. They give you access to the GitHub codebase when setting up the interview, and they do expect you spend 5-10 minutes discussing your observations on the codebase. Interestingly they allow you to use Google search, ChatGPT or CoPilot for this interview. | R3 - 60-minute behavioral and values interview | R4 - 60-minute team match interview. The first 3 rounds were straightforward and I had nice interviewers. The team match interview I got hostile interviewers who asked weird questions to undermine me from the very start (e.g. why do you feel the need to explain your career before software engineering? Software engineering will destroy your life, why do you do it?). At one point I was answering his question of 'how do you learn a new tech stack and domain?', and he cut me off to say 'I don't believe you can do it'. There was one hostile interviewer, and the other interviewer just sat there silently. It really felt like the interviewer had no interest in considering me for the role even before the interview had started. I've had plenty of interviews with CTOs and staff engineers, and no-one has given off the same burnt-out and antagonistic vibe. Following this bizarre interview I have effectively been ghosted by Xero, I followed up with Talent staff 1 week later to be told that that team had found a match (not surprising), and I am still being considered for team-match. I have had no further contact since. It has been 2 months since the 3rd round, and I am still in 'team match hell' with Xero.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Software engineering will destroy your life - you never know enough and you have to keep up-to-date with an unsustainably rapid growing body of knowledge - why pursue it?
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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