Senior Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Spotify with 2.8 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 33% positive. To compare, the company-average is 47.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Senior Software Engineer roles take an average of 39 days to get hired, when considering 24 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 Senior Software Engineer according to 24 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 42%
One on one interview: 15%
Skills test: 15%
Presentation: 9%
Group panel interview: 9%
Background check: 6%
Other: 3%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
Phone screen, followed by onsite based on core Javascript concepts, system design, and values interview. Pretty standard overall, focus on STAR format answers for the values round. System design was more focused on frontend since I interviewed for an FE role.
1
Application
I applied online. I interviewed at Spotify in Sep 2025
Interview
When I applied to Spotify, I already had an offer from another company. I communicated this upfront and asked the recruiters to move the process as quickly as possible so my existing offer would not expire. I was told the process normally takes 3 weeks and that they would try to complete it in 2. In reality, it took far longer.
The process was repeatedly delayed. The recruiters were based in Singapore, which resulted in ~24h delays between each email. Additional days were lost due to technical issues with the scheduling platform. The company also had a “wellbeing week,” during which no interviews took place. I was never informed that this would delay the process by another full week.
Despite performing very well in all interview rounds, I then heard nothing for nearly 2 more weeks. When I followed up—5 weeks after the process started—I was rejected. The explicit reason given was that I was “in a hurry.”
I find this treatment of candidates unacceptable and highly unprofessional. I was transparent from the beginning about my limited availability (1–2 weeks), yet after 5 weeks of delays I was rejected for the very constraint I had communicated upfront. Given my strong interview performance and how closely my experience aligned with the role, I am confident I would have received an offer if not for the poorly managed timeline.
Overall, this was a deeply disappointing experience. I invested many stressful hours in preparation and interviews, only to be rejected due to process inefficiencies rather than merit. This experience has significantly harmed my perception of Spotify as an employer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Algorithms in application to Spotify functionality, implement an existing feature during system design.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Spotify in Mar 2025
Interview
Recruiter screen followed by a technical screening. The tech screen was a mix of easy to medium LC questions chosen on the spot along with random JavaScript trivia. Interviewers were friendly and helpful, which I appreciated.
That said, the process overall felt disjointed. The job I applied for changed titles midway through the process, which made things a bit confusing, and the internal misalignment was palpable.
I followed up with the recruiter a week later and received a generic, canned rejection.