Senior Software Engineer - Data and Backend Services Interview Experience - New York, New York
April 1, 2018
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I was referred by a colleague at Spotify, so I was moved directly to the onsite/final interview stage. I was advised of five interview topics, including:
- Programming
- System design
- Case study
- Spotify values
- Tech leadership
Questions
The case study interview question was the most in-depth.
It involved system design, coding, and database optimization.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Spotify Senior Software Engineer - Data and Backend Services role in New York, New York.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
Spotify's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer - Data and Backend Services roles in New York, New York is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive100%
Neutral0%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Spotify's Senior Software Engineer - Data and Backend Services interview process in New York, New York.
Spotify Work Experiences
3.0
Great people, good opportunities, mediocre technology
Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
October 9, 2014
Pros: Spotify feels motivated, yet more casual than other similar companies I've worked at. I consider my coworkers my friends, and there's a great work-life balance.
There's opportunity for technical growth and leadership if you're assertive. In my experience, hack weeks and days are actually real and not too hard to schedule in.
Cons: Mediocre benefits compared to competitors.
Mediocre technical stack with a lot of technical debt, although we are improving in this area.
Highly autonomous teams can lead to poor design.
Performance and compensation review process is poorly defined and hard to fathom.
A lot of the less experienced technical staff drink the company Kool-Aid and do not see its shortcomings.
5.0
Fun, interesting, and fast-paced
Software Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
June 12, 2013
Pros: Great people, great product, with a lot of new ideas in the pipeline.
Everyone is open to ideas and suggestions. You can contribute as much as you are able to, and you are only encouraged to take on responsibility. Teams are extremely autonomous.
Benefits are second to none. Lunch and snacks are great! Free beer.
Cons: Lots of teams with their own plans, coordinating timelines, releases, and features is/can be a challenge.
You don't always know what other teams are working on and how far along their projects might be. There is no secrecy; you can talk to them, it's just not as transparent as it could be.
4.0
Just another tech company. Dumb managers, leadership with FOMO, under-qualified engineers... but good work-life balance
Senior Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
July 31, 2024
Pros: Great work-life balance.
Nice perks (gym, office, food card).
Cool product.
Cons: Nobody really knows what they're doing. Everything is about the fomo hype train. The engineers don't know what they're doing, the managers don't know what they're doing, and the C-suite doesn't know what they're doing.
So, it's just another tech company.
Few career advancement opportunities.
- 3.0Great people, good opportunities, mediocre technologyEngineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesOctober 9, 2014Pros: Spotify feels motivated, yet more casual than other similar companies I've worked at. I consider my coworkers my friends, and there's a great work-life balance. There's opportunity for technical growth and leadership if you're assertive. In my experience, hack weeks and days are actually real and not too hard to schedule in.Cons: Mediocre benefits compared to competitors. Mediocre technical stack with a lot of technical debt, although we are improving in this area. Highly autonomous teams can lead to poor design. Performance and compensation review process is poorly defined and hard to fathom. A lot of the less experienced technical staff drink the company Kool-Aid and do not see its shortcomings.
- 5.0Fun, interesting, and fast-pacedSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesJune 12, 2013Pros: Great people, great product, with a lot of new ideas in the pipeline. Everyone is open to ideas and suggestions. You can contribute as much as you are able to, and you are only encouraged to take on responsibility. Teams are extremely autonomous. Benefits are second to none. Lunch and snacks are great! Free beer.Cons: Lots of teams with their own plans, coordinating timelines, releases, and features is/can be a challenge. You don't always know what other teams are working on and how far along their projects might be. There is no secrecy; you can talk to them, it's just not as transparent as it could be.
- 4.0Just another tech company. Dumb managers, leadership with FOMO, under-qualified engineers... but good work-life balanceSenior Machine Learning Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesJuly 31, 2024Pros: Great work-life balance. Nice perks (gym, office, food card). Cool product.Cons: Nobody really knows what they're doing. Everything is about the fomo hype train. The engineers don't know what they're doing, the managers don't know what they're doing, and the C-suite doesn't know what they're doing. So, it's just another tech company. Few career advancement opportunities.
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