Software Engineer Interview Experience - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Process
I had so many interviews from all sorts of companies around the world; some I accepted, a few I declined, and many rejections. But I usually don't take time to write my experience. However, for this time, I felt I have to, as this one is exceptionally bad and included bad ethics.
I was approached by a recruitment agency. The interviewing process was clear:
- A screening one with HR.
- HackerRank assignment.
- Technical interview.
- Behavioral.
- Last interview with one of the top leadership.
The technical assignment was 3 hours long with 3 parts. One problem-solving around medium difficulty, the second one is an SQL statement that finds information from a couple of tables, and the last one was a typical Java application that you usually see in everyday life that you need to complete. I completed the first one and the SQL query, but wasn't finding all the needed information as I had less time to work on the last one. Obviously, I did not finish everything completely but was as close as I could within the time limit.
Next, I scheduled the technical interview where you need to discuss your solutions with a couple of engineers. During the interview, I was asked to complete the unfinished parts and discuss other possible ways of solving the problems. This interview was nice, and the discussion with the engineers was proactive.
Next, I scheduled the last round of interviews, where I have to meet with the hiring manager and an org leader. The interview was also nice, and I mainly discussed the projects I worked on previously, as they were particularly interested in one of these projects.
Here's where things went sideways. The day I was supposed to meet with one of the top leaders, on the interview time, the Zoom link was not working. I tried so many times, but the link was invalid. I sent emails to HR to fix the problem with no response. I waited 25 minutes and sent 3 emails but no one responded. I then reached out to the recruitment agency to ask if they can fix the problem, and they checked and said that Adyen won't proceed with the application. They said that they had spoken with me about it already 3 days before. I explained that I wasn't contacted at all. The recruiter said he doesn't know where the miscommunication happened, but they assured him that they already had. He did not even believe me, so I had to take a screenshot from my mailbox. That's it, no apology, no emails, no phones at all. For me, it's fine to be rejected; I interview all the time. I have been on both sides of the interviewing processes, but I have never been in a situation like this at all.
Questions
Why do you want to join Adyen?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 20 interview experiences for the Adyen Software Engineer role in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Success Rate
Adyen's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Amsterdam, Netherlands is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having negative feelings for Adyen's Software Engineer interview process in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Adyen Work Experiences
- 4.0A great place to work, but there are signs of it becoming just another greedy, low-morale, poor-culture bankSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeAmsterdam, NetherlandsNovember 13, 2025Pros: Initially, an innovative, fast-paced company driven by incredible people. Generally, a great atmosphere to work in. Offers many opportunities to learn and grow.Cons: In the last year or two, the company started really shifting the focus away from the people, the culture, and the greater impact, to pure financial results and investor satisfaction. The little perks that were available for employees, such as nice breakfast snacks, free soda fridges, and in some cases, simple respect, are vanishing. The high leadership became arrogant. A few times, they publicly implied that the employees are somehow "free riding" and that we should be very grateful to them for the amazing conditions they are giving us. In some teams, we're working severely understaffed, but the expectation is to deliver massive results. This has been emphasized in almost every internal event.
- 2.0Going through changesSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeChicago, Illinois, United StatesOctober 20, 2025Pros: Beautiful office. Smart people. Daily lunches.Cons: Management Lack of career growth Dated technologies Compensation
- 1.0Not the place for real engineeringSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeAmsterdam, NetherlandsAugust 27, 2025Pros: Strong business position in the payments industry.Cons: Code quality is chronically poor. The “design pattern of choice” is an ever-growing chain of if/else statements, where adding new functionality usually means bolting on yet another else rather than designing a clean, maintainable solution. Testability is nearly absent. Many components can only be verified manually, or through convoluted setups that make proper automated testing impractical. A culture that resists engineering best practices. Attempts to introduce abstraction, maintainability, or extensibility are routinely dismissed as “too complex.” Outwardly, the company claims to be about empowering people, but internally personal initiatives are often discouraged. Product-driven initiatives dominate, while genuine engineering-driven initiatives simply do not exist. Engineers are seen as executors rather than partners, with little influence or visibility into the actual banking and payments domain they are supposed to be building for. The company’s “values” are little more than a façade. Outwardly they speak of being candid and humble, empowering people, and putting ego aside. In reality, candid feedback is discouraged, empowerment stops at Product, and ego is very much alive — just not on the engineering side. The mantra “Winning takes care of itself” translates into “we’re winning, therefore we must be right,” and “We make good decisions quickly” really means “decisions are always assumed to be good — as long as they come from the top.”
