Get a Job at Spotify: Interview Process and Top Questions

Do you want to work at Spotify, one of the most popular audio streaming services in the world?

Spotify likes to think of itself as a band: all of its employees are like band members who bring a diversity of instruments to the stage, playing in sync to create that unique sound.

At Spotify, no one plays solo, but everyone has an important part to play. A great band aspires to continue learning and growing to achieve its full potential.

Landing a coveted position at Spotify, such as a product manager or software engineer, is often considered a dream job. Spotify has been described by its employees as a great place to work for its

• collaborative attitude,
• rejection of traditional bureaucracy and hierarchies,
• and high level of transparency.

Although Spotify is always hiring, it has far fewer employees than other large tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, or Meta.

It has recently shifted toward more internal recruitment, and its rate of new hires is in steady decline.

So when your desired position at Spotify opens up, you’ll want to be as prepared as possible for the interviews to guarantee you get the job.

Below, we break down the Spotify interview process and the top Spotify questions you should expect to answer.

What is the Spotify interview process?

Spotify’s hiring process is similar to that of most other tech companies, but it also varies depending on the role you apply for.

The process may be slow; previous candidates who interviewed at Spotify reported several weeks between interviews, with the entire process lasting as long as three months.

Due to Spotify’s “work from anywhere” model, your interviews will most likely be entirely remote and conducted via Google Meet or Zoom.

Generally, you’ll face the following interviews at Spotify:

• Recruiter call (30 minutes)
• Hiring Manager phone screen (1 hour)
• On-site interview loop (4-5 hours total)

Spotify tries to provide feedback where they can if you don’t get the job, but some candidates said they never heard back.

Although there are a few technical rounds, previous candidates said behavioral and values-related questions played a massive role in the process.

Spotify’s core values

To best prepare for an interview at Spotify, make sure to review its work culture and values by spending time on its careers website.

Spotify's mission statement is:

“To unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creators the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.”

• Innovative: Move fast and take risks; cultivate curiosity; failure is one step closer to innovation.
• Sincere: Lead with transparency and openness; assume good intent and build trust.
• Passionate: Care about Spotify’s mission and be excited about executing it with a team.
• Collaborative: We’re all in this together; share ideas across units in spite of traditional hierarchies.
• Playful: Don’t take yourself too seriously; connect with your team and celebrate successes.

Spotify is ideas-driven and focused on growth.

If you’re not comfortable in an environment of “controlled chaos,” you might want to reconsider applying.

These are the typical steps for most Spotify interviews:

Step 1: Recruiter Call

This 30-minute conversation with a recruiter is evaluative.

They will tell you about Spotify and the position you are applying for. Be prepared to discuss:

• Your professional background
• Your interest in Spotify
• Your qualifications for the role
• Relevant past projects related to the role

This interview won’t delve deeply into behavioral questions, but it’s important to show your qualifications and alignment with Spotify’s values.

Your recruiter will likely ask you:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why do you want to work at Spotify?
• Why are you leaving your current position?

Step 2: Hiring Manager Phone Screen

Depending on the role, this 60-to-75-minute phone screen with a hiring manager or engineering manager may be fairly technical.

How to prepare:

• You may be asked to complete a coding question using CoderPad or Mural; these questions are usually medium difficulty coding problems, so practice plenty ahead of time. Candidates have reported doing interviews in Java, Python, Kotlin, and sometimes C or C++.
• Expect questions related to your technical background and experience, as well as several behavioral and domain-specific questions.

Step 3: On-Site Interview Loop

The final step of Spotify’s interview process is an on-site interview loop, which typically consists of the following four interview sessions covering different topic areas:

• Case Study (1 hour)
• Coding (1 hour)
• System Design (1 hour)
• Behavioral/Values (60-75 minutes)

In each interview, you will meet 4 or 5 panelists.

The process may vary according to the role, so your interviews might differ slightly from those described here.

What are the top Spotify interview questions?

Previous candidates at Spotify reported getting asked these questions:

Behavioral

• Describe your leadership style.
• Have you ever affected anyone positively by helping them?
• Have you ever facilitated teamwork?
• Tell me about a time you failed.
• Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback.
• Tell me about a project you’re very proud of.

Coding

During the coding interviews, candidates reported getting asked fundamental software engineering questions about:

• Hash Maps
• Breadth-first search (BFS)
• MapReduce
• String manipulation
• Binary Trees

Here are some examples of coding questions previous interviewees have reported:

• Explain the differences between stack and heap memory allocation.
• Based on a list of prerequisites, determine if you can finish a list of courses at school.
• Given an array of distinct integers, return all the possible permutations.
• Given a string of consecutive repeated characters and a max value, return another string of max repeated characters.

System Design

• Design a system for uploading and assigning an image to playlists.
• Design Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist.
• Design a podcast search engine for Spotify.

Data and SQL

Data scientists, data engineers, and analysts will be expected to digest and interpret data using SQL, statistical analysis, and more.

• Sort/classify a list of tracks from different countries according to their popularity and genre.
• Write a SQL query to extract the earliest date each user played their third unique song.

Machine Learning

These are some examples of machine learning interview questions you can expect at Spotify:

• Design a system to predict future listening behavior for a user.
• How would you evaluate the success of a machine learning model?
• How would you use machine learning to identify duplicate songs?

Product Management

• What is your favorite product and why?
• How would you improve Spotify?
• Measure the success of Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature.
• Spotify installs decreased by 25%. What happened?

Spotify Interview Loops Explained

Here's what to expect in each interview at Spotify.

Case Study

In this interview, you will be given a problem similar to those encountered on the job at Spotify.

Depending on the role, this might be a pair programming session, or you may be asked to fix a system by debugging or troubleshooting.

Visual aids and code snippets may be provided to help you.

The key is not to achieve a flawless final product, but to demonstrate how you think and work through a problem.

Good communication is crucial as you will be working with cross-functional teams.

Explain every decision you make and don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions. The interviewers are there to help you, and your questions demonstrate your thought process.

Coding

This interview session will challenge you to complete medium-to-hard coding questions and programming trivia questions.

This is a primarily skills-focused interview.

There aren't any tricks to this interview. Brushing up on coding fundamentals and practicing common data structures and algorithms interview questions is the best way to prepare.

System Design

The system design interview tests your expertise in building, scaling, and designing efficient systems.

You will likely be given a system design problem relevant to Spotify's challenges of delivering high quality audio files to millions of users around the globe.

Expect domain-specific questions during this session related to load balancing, content delivery, and avoiding bottlenecks.

Values/Behavioral

Spotify values its mission and impact on the world, so values and culture fit are crucial in the interview process.

Skills are important, but alignment with Spotify’s values is a must.

This is your opportunity to show who you are, what’s important to you, and what it will be like to work with you.

Spotify wants to see that you:

• Align with their values
• Are proud of your work
• Are adaptable
• Are collaborative
• Are driven

Spotify’s manifesto tells you everything you need to know about its culture and values. Spend some time on Spotify’s careers website and engineering blog, review its values, and check out the Life at Spotify podcast to prepare.

Remember that playfulness is one of Spotify’s values, so try to relax and enjoy the process. Dress in a way that makes you feel most comfortable and the most “you,” and don’t be afraid to bring your playful side to the forefront during this interview.

Make sure you choose the appropriate framework to best suit the question being asked, rather than relying on just one. For example, you can start broad, then go deep into your answer; another popular method is the STAR framework, which helps you break down the situation, task, action, and result.

Spotify Interview Tips

What should you know before your Spotify interviews?

• Be honest. This is the best way to show interviewers who you are and what you are like to work with. Honesty is important in the behavioral interviews, but also the technical challenges — it’s okay to admit if you don’t know something. It’s okay to ask for help if you need it. Remember, Spotify values growth and expects you to continuously improve on the job.
• Show your willingness to learn. Spotify incentivizes people who are passionate about growth. It’s not just about moving up in the company or getting a fancy new title — Spotify wants self-driven candidates dedicated to developing their craft to help improve Spotify as a whole. If you can show that you see this as an opportunity rather than an impossible challenge, you’re more likely to get the job. Try to think of some examples from your past that display: 
  • Your passion for learning and growing
  • A time you took on a challenging project and what you learned 
  • Your adaptability to chaotic, ever-changing environments 
• Think out loud. Your interviewers will likely be your band members who you will be working with daily if you get the job, so during the interviews they are looking to understand how you think, make decisions, and solve problems. Collaboration is also a core value at Spotify, so showing your ability to communicate clearly and thoroughly is important. 

FAQs

How long is the Spotify interview process?

The entire Spotify interview process can take up to 2 or 3 months. Some candidates reported hearing back on their application within a couple of days, but there can be long stretches between each interview. Contact your recruiter if you'd like an update on your application.

Can I reapply for positions at Spotify?

Spotify recommends waiting 6 months to reapply for a position you’ve already interviewed for. However, you can apply to as many jobs as you’re qualified for at one time.

Does Spotify hire interns and new graduates?

Spotify offers entry-level positions as well as internships. Many Spotify interns also progress to become full-time members of the band after graduation.

Are Spotify interviews hard?

According to candidates on Glassdoor, Spotify interviews are moderately difficult. Like FAANG companies, you'll be expected to be at the top of your field. However, there are no trick questions.

Is it hard to get an internship or job at Spotify?

It's challenging to get an internship or full time job at Spotify. This is because Spotify tends to hire from within, meaning that new job postings are infrequent. Plus, the hiring process can take a few months.