I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Spotify (New York, NY) in May 2015
Interview
The process had 3 parts. It started with the design recruiter organising an online chat with the Director of Design. This was followed by an on-site chat (and tour of the NYC space) with Senior Product designers/developers and finally with a separate 3-4 hour long panel interview that included a collaborative working session with Spotify designers and then the completion of an individual design task with a presentation back to the panel.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The collaborative task included choosing an existing digital product with a 'freemium' subscription model similar to Spotify and thought-storming ideas/solving issues around it.
Horrible interviewing process where the hiring manager didn't even bother turning on her camera and told me she was so tired from a day of doing interviews and just wanted it to be done.
The portfolio is important to be selected. HR is great to provide all the instructions for each step. Make sure to read them carefully. Feel free to ask questions. They are responsive. Every stakeholder opinion matters, they take extensive notes. Ask for feedback. The feedback they gave me after was very valuable.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Typical behavioural questions, case study of your best work...
A screening call with the recruiter from the UK was not a good experience. The recruiter was not prepared at all. When she was telling me about the role, I could tell she was just reading it from a script, and it was her first time ever reading it. I barely understood what she was saying because it was a very fast monotone reading, and she didn't put any punctuation or enthusiasm. Also, very bad phone quality from her end. Like come on, your job is to interview people. At least get a better mic. There was also a moment when I wanted to share my screen for a better presentation but she said no so I had to walk her through on a not-so-ideal presentation platform. After the presentation, she told me to prepare a more detailed presentation when I already had one ready for it during the call. Definitely not a good experience.