I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Spotify (New York, NY) in Sep 2011
Interview
Very disorganized. I interviewed for a software engineer position in 2011, meeting with a bunch of people, half of whom thought I was going for a data scientist position. Everyone at this stage was very friendly. This was followed by a Skype meeting with one of the VPs from Stockholm - at this point the Spotify recruiter said I should expect an offer within the next couple of days.
Despite attempts to follow-up, two weeks go by and no response. Just as I was about to give up on the position, they get back to me and tell me that the VP flew into the US and wants to meet with me in person. We arrange that. 15 minutes before the scheduled time, after I had driven an hour to NYC and while I was waiting outside their office, I get an email that says the position has been filled and the interview has been cancelled. Maybe it was an honest mistake, but I came out of it with a pretty poor impression of the company's hiring process.
One of the most disrespectful interview processes I've ever been a part of. First stage was a call with a recruiter, which went fine although there was more than a whiff of wannabe silicon valley waffle from his end.
I progressed and was booked in for a 2nd stage with an engineer. However on the day of the interview it was cancelled as I was told there were scheduling conflicts. Ok fine, it happens. The interview was rearranged for the following week - when the same thing happened again! Interview cancelled on the day due to scheduling conflicts. Booked in again for the following week (third time lucky?) and this time it wasn't cancelled on the day. BUT I joined the call and no-one showed up! After 10-15 minutes I emailed the recruiter who told me the interviewer was off sick but apparently hadn't told anyone?
Finally at the fourth attempt I had my interview with an engineer. It was 75 minutes and consisted of a discussion about a recent project as well as some technical questions and a leetcode task (2 largest elements). It seemed to go ok and I was told I would hear back soon. However after 2 weeks I hadn't heard anything so I decided to email the recruiter asking for an update. That was almost a month ago and as of yet I've still heard nothing back. I'm fine with not passing an interview but I expect at least a cursory "thanks but no thanks" but apparently even that is asking too much.
This whole experience has left me almost glad I wasn't progressed - if this is an insight into life at Spotify I'm happy to not work there. This kind of behaviour shows a complete lack of respect for candidates and their time, so I dread to think how they treat their employees.
I applied online. I interviewed at Spotify (New York, NY) in May 2026
Interview
Spoke with a recruiter, was ghosted after the interview. He asked all the standard questions - why Spotify, expected level, salary expectation, what are the priorities, why left previous company, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was the most complicated project you were working on in your previous company?
Initial HR Call and screening, then arround two weeks later leet code task, followed by on-site architectural/design test and the final culture fit check with HR/Managers. Overall the process was 3-4 weeks.