10 questions · from 1 interviews

Spotify interview questions

Every question candidates reported from their Spotify interviews, most frequently asked first. Each links to the write-up it came from, so you can see the round and how it went.

Spotify coding and DSA questions

  1. 01

    Tree and Hash Map Complexity & Use Cases

    I was asked to explain the time and space complexity of common operations for Tree and Hash Map data structures, along with typical scenarios where each would be the most suitable choice.

    From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  2. 02

    Is Palindrome

    I was asked to implement a function that determines whether a given string is a palindrome (reads the same forwards and backward).

    Easy · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  3. 03

    Find Two Largest Elements

    I was asked to write code to find and return the two largest distinct elements from an array of numbers.

    Easy · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  4. 04

    Find K Largest Elements

    I was asked to implement a function that finds the K largest elements from an unsorted array of numbers.

    Medium · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  5. 05

    Playlist Functions with Heap

    I was asked to implement various functions related to playlist management. Specifically, I needed to demonstrate how to sort playlists and retrieve the most frequently played songs, emphasizing the use of a heap data structure for efficiency.

    Medium · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

Spotify system design questions

  1. 01

    Investigating Slow Request Root Cause

    If a particular request is consistently performing slowly, I was asked to outline the diagnostic steps and methods I would use to systematically investigate and identify the underlying root cause of the performance issue.

    From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  2. 02

    Design Playlist Image Upload Service

    The System Design task was to design a server responsible for handling the upload and management of images associated with user playlists. The design had to accommodate several requirements presented on a Mural board and integrate with an existing playlist…

    Hard · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

Spotify behavioural and HR questions

  1. 01

    Behavioral Interview Questions

    I was asked several common behavioral questions, including: 'Tell me about a time when you had to figure out a solution on your own,' 'What are you most proud of in your career?', and 'Did you ever have an argument with a colleague, and how did you deal with…

    From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

Spotify other questions

  1. 01

    URL to Web Page Process

    I was asked to describe the entire process that occurs from the moment a user types a URL into a browser and presses Enter until the web page is fully displayed, covering DNS resolution, HTTP requests, rendering, etc.

    From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

  2. 02

    Server Malfunction Debugging Case Study

    This was a case study where I had to debug a malfunctioning server. The process involved asking for telemetry data (CPU/Memory, 'top' output), identifying geographical issues (EU/US servers), requesting detailed metrics (CPU/IOPS/Requests/Memory), and…

    Hard · From Spotify | Backend Engineer I/II | Europe | 2022 | Onsite [Reject]

Spotify interview questions FAQ

What questions are asked in Spotify interviews?

Candidates reported 10 distinct questions across 1 Spotify interviews. 5 coding and DSA questions, 2 system design questions, 1 behavioural and HR questions, 2 other questions.

How difficult are Spotify interview questions?

Of the questions candidates rated, 33% were easy, 33% medium and 33% hard.