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Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience - Auckland, New Zealand

March 22, 2025
Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I applied online. The process took two weeks.

The initial call with the recruiter was friendly and professional. The second stage involved a two-hour session with two senior engineers. The process started with a brief discussion about my experience, followed by a review of a provided app to identify potential issues and improvements. After that, I was given a new requirement to implement an additional feature in the existing app. The task itself was fairly straightforward, and I was instructed to work as if it were a normal day, collaborating with two team members: a junior engineer and a product manager. However, the "product manager" was actually a senior engineer observing the implementation, which felt unnecessary. I completed the task within the given time, added a test, and explained what else could be tested. There were also standard questions about scaling the solution, which I answered.

Despite everything seemingly going well, the feedback I received was that I was "not senior enough." This was surprising, as I didn't feel the interviewers demonstrated significantly greater expertise, given that they already knew the expected solution. It was the first time in my career that an interview felt successful, yet the feedback seemed somewhat off. Overall, it was a decent experience, but I got the impression that the outcome may have been influenced by personal bias rather than objective assessment. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't receive an offer—I wouldn't want to work at a company with that kind of culture.

Questions

  • Extend the existing solution based on a given requirement.
  • Discuss strategies for scaling the solution to handle increased throughput.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 7 interview experiences for the Xero Senior Software Engineer role in Auckland, Auckland.

Success Rate

29%
Pass Rate

Xero's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in Auckland, Auckland is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive71%
Neutral14%
Negative14%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Xero's Senior Software Engineer interview process in Auckland, Auckland.