Submitted application with CV; Got a call from internal recruiter who spoke about the role after asking about my job circumstances/background; Met with 2 developers for first round, code review/refactoring suggestions; All was positive up until this point.
Last interview with 2 hiring managers who seemed to lack empathy, felt pretty much like facing 2 cold robots who gave away almost immediately they weren't interested in my candidacy. Never knew why. I just take it as having dodged a bullet. Thanks but no thanks.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What area of software development do you enjoy most?
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%
One on one interview: 12%
Presentation: 12%
Drug test: 4%
Personality test: 4%
Background check: 4%
IQ intelligence test: 4%
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