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Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience

November 13, 2021
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I applied online, and the process took two weeks.

I first had a recruiter call and then was moved to the initial phone screen. I got to meet the hiring manager and another senior dev. Overall, we had a nice conversation, and I was asked a coding question which I could solve easily. If you are applying to this company, beware that the recruiters are terrible at communication. They didn't explain to me what to expect during the final round. In fact, one recruiter said another recruiter was supposed to call or email me and fill me in on the details. That didn't happen. I walked into the final round not knowing how it would pan out.

There were several parts to the final stage:

  • A system design interview.
  • A string manipulation coding interview.
  • A hands-on API design interview.
  • A final interview with the hiring manager himself, which was casual in nature.

The only interviews I enjoyed were the last two. I think the hands-on interview is a great way to gauge whether a candidate is capable enough to carry out similar tasks at work. The manager round was also fun as I got to learn about the company and its needs. I'm quite surprised that other candidates were asked easy questions. I feel like the interview process for me was made specifically hard. I am not sure why, and maybe they already had another candidate in mind, and I was just a filler.

They said the recruiter would be in touch. Since I haven't heard from him, I think this is a no-go at this point. Overall, I was treated with respect and would recommend applying here. Just keep in mind that the recruiters seem clueless and they don't bother with post-interview follow-ups.

Questions

The topics were a system design round, string manipulation, and .NET API design.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 39 interview experiences for the Xero Senior Software Engineer role.

Success Rate

15%
Pass Rate

Xero's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive36%
Neutral18%
Negative46%

Candidates reported having negative feelings for Xero's Senior Software Engineer interview process.