I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Spotify in Aug 2022
Interview
Generally quite enjoyable - interview was 3 rounds : 1. Screening Call with recruiter 2. Behavioural Interview with Hiring Manager & Technical with Senior Researcher 3. 1 day (over 2 x days) remote 'offsite' to various panels running through portfolio + a case study - generally average in difficulty / ease but intense. Everyone was super friendly and encouraging however had to wait a long time (nearly 2 weeks) to hear after that final round which was a little frustrating.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What are the strengths and weaknesses of diary studies?
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Spotify (New York, NY) in May 2021
Interview
The interview process itself was rigorous and time-consuming, though not too much more effortful than those of other top tech companies. The reason why this experience was so awful for me was the extremely unprofessional recruiter who was assigned to me. First off, she was audibly eating during our phone screen. Then, as I made my way through each phase of the interview process, I would send her follow-up emails after each interview that I attended and to ask her to relay thank you messages to each of my interviewers. She never responded to these emails, not even to confirm receipt. I obviously wanted to know how I did in the interviews and whether I would be moving onto the next round, and I wouldn't find out until I heard from the interview scheduler (a different person). Facing total silence in this process was stressful, and having to follow up again 1 week after each email just to make sure it was seen and received made me feel like a burden. I certainly doubted that my thank yous were ever passed along to the interviewers. Maybe she was super busy, but where she really screwed up was at the point in the interview process when I was supposed to give a presentation to a panel, which I was only aware of because of the information in the calendar invite. I emailed this recruiter more than once to ask for details about what is required of me for the presentation interview. Eventually she responded to me, 48 hours before the scheduled presentation interview, and she rudely said that we'd already been over this on the phone, WHICH WE HADN'T. I had to write her back and explain that we had never once spoken about any of the interviews because our only phone conversation had been the screening call! I needed to know what to prepare! The next day she gave me the presentation prompt details and I pulled an all-nighter preparing a lot of work for what ended up being a pretty difficult interview. Lastly, she ghosted me. After I completed all of the final interviews I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM HER. 3 weeks went by without a reply to a single email. I wrote her explaining that I had 2 offers in hand from other companies, and that I just needed a decision ASAP. No response. I had multiple referrals at Spotify and one of them gave me the email address to contact the hiring manager directly. When I emailed him to explain the awkward situation I was in with this recruiter and other offers to respond to, he did not reply to me, but I received an automated rejection letter from Spotify within an hour.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design a complete, detailed, 2-phase user research study to answer a real problem that Spotify [team you are applying for] needs to solve. Make a formal presentation and present your research proposal to us. Unpaid labor.
1. Call with recruiter- a brief phone call covering the basis, nothing out of the ordinary
2. Talk with a PM - technical interview (I was informed by the recrutier that there won't be technical questions at this stage)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your most frequently used method? Speak to me about your process in depth.
Are there some research methods that you are not confident using?
Presented with a hypothetical case