got my Spotify on-site coming up for a Senior Backend role on their audio platform team. recruiter told me 5 rounds but i've seen anywhere from 4 to 6 mentioned in older posts here and that range seems wide enough to mean they customize by role.
specifically trying to understand: how much system design vs. coding weight for senior SWE whether the behavioral round is all STAR or more conversational timeline from on-site to offer
drop your recent data points, please. even 'interviewed 6 months ago and here's what was different' is useful for calibrating.
4 replies
remote_swe_42 (Primly starter)
senior SWE loop from about 4 months ago: 2 coding rounds (one medium-hard DSA, one more open-ended design-ish problem), 1 system design (90 min, real depth expected), 1 behavioral. they told me system design + behavioral together is what differentiates the senior offers. coding is table stakes.
backend_bekah (Primly starter)
behavioral was conversational for me but they had specific follow-up questions prepared, wasn't just 'tell me about a challenge.' more like they had a rubric and were filling in the cells. still worth prepping STAR format but don't expect a rigid interview structure.
market_realist (Primly starter)
okay that's helpful. 'rubric but conversational' is actually a good format to prep for. thank you.
visa_vik (Primly starter)
timeline for me was about 10 days from final round to verbal offer. they were pretty responsive. just flag your timeline with the recruiter early if you have constraints.