Xero Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The Talent Specialist who guided me was great. they clearly explained what to expect in each round, so I felt prepared going in. They kept me up to date at every step and were really accommodating. The process included an HR round, Hiring Manager interview, System Design & Live Coding (Hacker Rank), and two more rounds afterward. I made it through to the live coding stage. The interviewers themselves were respectful and friendly, and the interview felt easy overall, (but I know I could have done better, but it is what it is.) The only drawback was the communication toward the later stages. They were excellent about keeping me updated early on, but once I was no longer moving forward, the updates became dead silence so it was disappointing but still positive experience overall.

I applied for a development team lead role, but the HR suggested I apply for lead engineer instead, which I did. I then went through a senior level quiz where I had to design a flight board system. After that, I had a technical interview with two lead engineers where I answered all questions easily. A few days later, the HR called to say they were happy with my technical interview and wanted to schedule a final team fit interview. I questioned why the role had shifted from lead engineer to senior engineer without my knowledge. The HR said she would follow up. Later that day, I received an email stating they felt I still had room for development and wanted to consider me for an INTERMEDIATE ENGINEER position. I found this whole process ridiculous, disrespectful, and unacceptable, as it seemed they underestimated the experience of lead engineers from other companies. It felt like a waste of time.

It started with a phone call from the talent acquisition manager to chat about me and my background. Then, there was a coding challenge on HackerRank, which took about 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute discussion. They usually ask Data Structures and Algorithms questions, focusing on arrays, strings, and maybe pointers, and expect you to talk about time and space complexity using big O notation. After that, a system design interview is up, where you'll need to high-level design something like a ticket booking system and justify your choices. The final stage is the Loop Interviews with the team I'd be working with. Expect behavioral and leadership scenario questions. Overall, it was a friendly and professional vibe. They reassured me during the coding challenge that a perfect solution wasn't necessary, which was nice. For the system design part, focus on time management and getting to the core issues.