Spotify Software Engineer Interview

The first round of the Spotify Software Engineer is an online screening test that evaluates your IQ, language, and math skills to determine your eligibility for the position. The assessment is conducted online and can be completed from the comfort of your own home. 

This initial screen determines whether you will move forward to the next stage of the interview process. Be sure to allocate sufficient time and review basic math and language concepts before taking the assessment.

After successfully passing the Online Assessment, the next round is a Video/Telephone Interview. During this round, you'll have a one-on-one chat with one of the Spotify recruiters. The conversation will revolve around your background, past experience, technical skills, and the role you are applying for. 

This round mostly focuses on your soft skills, so it's important to prepare accordingly. Come to the interview armed with relevant examples of past projects and throw in a nugget about yourself that makes you stand out.

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Can you describe a project you worked on and your contributions to it?
3. How would you approach collaborating with a team to solve a complex technical challenge?

This is an hour-long technical interview that assesses your technical skills and knowledge. You'll be asked about your previous experience, some technical domain questions, and given two Leetcode-like (usually easy) coding problems to solve.

The technical questions are fairly straightforward if you have industry experience. For instance, they may include java/backend domain questions or those pertaining to information security.

In addition to technical questions, you will also be asked to discuss any recent technical projects you've worked on in depth, including the challenges you faced and the solutions you implemented.

1. Can you explain the concept of MITM (Man-In-The-Middle) attacks and how to prevent them?
2. Can you explain some authenticated encryption algorithms?
3. Can you walk me through a recent technical project you worked on, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them?
4. Given a string, determine if it is a palindrome, considering only alphanumeric characters and ignoring cases. For example, "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama" is a palindrome, but "race a car" is not.
5. Given an array of integers, find two numbers such that they add up to a specific target number. For example, given an array of [2, 7, 11, 15] and a target of 9, the function should return [0, 1] because nums[0] + nums[1] = 2 + 7 = 9.

The onsite round consists of four 1-hour long interviews, each focused on a different topic. These interviews will dive deeper into your skills, experience, and ability to solve complex problems. 

Here's an overview of the rounds:

• Programming/DSA
• System Design
• Values/Behavioral
• Case Study (Unique Interview)

Let's discuss what you can expect from each interview

Programming/DSA

In this, you can typically expect to be asked domain-specific questions about the tech stack you'll be using and some programming questions that will likely be focused on object-oriented concepts and topics such as strings, maps, and arrays as well as UDP/TCP protocols.

The domain questions are typically based on your preferred language and seek to evaluate your approach to certain aspects of the role you are applying for. For instance, if you are a backend candidate, you may be asked "how do you handle an on-call issue?"

The algorithmic problems will likely be similar to questions you've seen on LeetCode and be of medium difficulty. However, some candidates have reported this round to be their hardest since they were asked to solve hard-level LeetCode problems.

System Design

In this round, you will be evaluated on your ability to design and implement a high-level system. The interviewer may ask you to design a system for a specific use case or to solve a particular problem.

It typically depends on your interviewer how this round will go; while some opt for a decent or straightforward approach while others ask more high-level questions.

Keep in mind, the focus of this interview will be interest in your problem-solving process and approach rather than quick solutions. You will be expected to show an understanding of the core components of a system and how they work together. They may also ask you to explain your design choices and to identify potential weaknesses or areas for improvement.

Values/Behavioral

In the behavioral interview, the interviewer is trying to gauge how you'd respond to Spotify's work culture and how you'd address challenging scenarios.

Spotify's behavioral questions are fairly standard in most interviews since focus is on your soft skills—candidates have reportedly been rejected for a lack of self-confidence and inadequate communication skills.

Therefore, it's crucial to practice your communication skills before the interview.

One useful tip is to practice with mock interviews to get comfortable with answering questions and delivering concise, effective responses. Another tip is to research Spotify's culture and values and try to align your responses with them.

Case Study (Unique Interview)

The case study round is a unique interview at Spotify where the interviewer tries to simulate an on-call issue response scenario. It is typically to evaluate the candidate's ability to solve real-world problems under pressure and assess their thought process in a complex, time-sensitive situation.

To give you a quick picture, you will be presented with a realistic scenario related to the role you have applied for. You will then be asked to work through the problem, identify potential solutions, and present your findings to the interviewers. The interviewers may ask follow-up questions to further evaluate the candidate's approach.

• Before the interview, review common system design principles and approaches.
• During the interview, communicate your thought process and ask clarifying questions as needed.
• Practice with a mock interviewer, ideally a Spotify Software Engineer to learn how to tackle the different curveballs of this interview.

• Can you explain the difference between TCP and UDP protocols? 
• How do you handle a situation where the server is down? 
• Explain the use of maps in Java.
• Write a program to reverse a string in Python.
• What are some benefits of using object-oriented programming over procedural programming?
• Design a system to handle millions of user requests per minute.
• How would you design a recommendation engine for a music streaming service like Spotify?
• Design a system to detect fraudulent activity on an e-commerce platform.
• How would you build a distributed cache for a web application?
• Design a system for handling real-time data processing for a social media platform.
• Can you tell me about a time when you had to work on a project with a tight deadline? How did you manage your time effectively?
• Give me an example of a time when you had to work with a difficult colleague. How did you handle the situation?
• How do you handle constructive criticism in the workplace? Can you give me an example of a time when you received feedback on your work?
• Tell me about a time when you had to make an unpopular decision. How did you handle it?
• Can you describe a time when you faced a setback or failure? How did you respond to it?
• Imagine that Spotify is launching a new feature and you are responsible for ensuring its smooth rollout. Outline the steps you would take to ensure that the feature is functioning correctly, including any testing or monitoring processes you would put in place. Also, explain how you would communicate any issues or delays to stakeholders.
• You are a member of the on-call team and receive an alert that a critical service is down. Walk me through your troubleshooting process and how you would escalate the issue if necessary.
• Spotify has just released a new feature, and users are reporting performance issues. How would you go about investigating and resolving the problem?
• Imagine you are leading the development of a new feature for the Spotify app. What steps would you take to ensure the feature is built to scale and can handle high levels of traffic?