Spotify Ux Designer Interview Questions
& Process

It began with a referral from a friend, leading to a recruiter reaching out. The first call involved discussing my background and covering general info about Spotify, the role, and the interview process. Next, I had a technical interview with two researchers from the Spotify team. This interview focused on research skills, methodology, and the impact of research, and also explored my areas of interest as a researcher. A portfolio presentation was not part of this stage. Following that, I interviewed with the hiring manager, which was a more in-depth conversation about my background and expectations, similar to the initial recruiter chat. Throughout the process, my recruiter was helpful and addressed my questions.

The application process took about a month. I went through the whole interview course, including a portfolio presentation, a tech evaluation, an ad-hoc research challenge, and the virtual onsite with the whole team I'd be joining. I spent about 10 hours in calls, not counting the prep time for each meeting. Even though some people I spoke with gave me great feedback, I got a standard rejection email a few days after the last interview. My biggest complaint is how the virtual onsite was set up. Because of COVID and everything being remote, it's just a bunch of panel and 1:1 meetings spread over a few days. I think they could save a lot of time by evaluating candidates after each step to avoid unnecessary meetings with people they're not really considering anymore, instead of just going through all the scheduled interviews. My situation is like many others you can find on Glassdoor. I'd be careful if I were you, knowing that it takes a lot of time. On the bright side, everyone I talked to was great, and I never felt put on the spot. The questions weren't hard, but they were well-designed to check your skills and how you think.

I had one phone interview with the recruiter. It took 7 emails to set up. The recruiter was late for the call, which ended up being about 20 minutes. The recruiter seemed unprepared and didn't know much about the position or how the research department is structured. They mentioned they were new to the design department and previously worked in engineering, which I found surprising. I never received any feedback after the call, even though the recruiter said the hiring manager would be in touch within a week.