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Interview questions from top companies, mapped to the exact round they show up in. Prep for what you will actually face.

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Online AssessmentDSA / CodingMachine CodingLow-Level Design

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The Loop aggregates publicly shared interview experiences and curated commonly-asked questions, each labeled with its source. Not affiliated with any company listed.

MIT · © 2026

← Spotify

Senior Backend at Spotify

BackendSeniorRejected◆ Commonly asked· 2023

Senior backend interview. Pragmatic questions — more real-world than pure puzzles.

The loop · 6 rounds

01

Round 01 · 3 questions

DSA / Coding

Data structures & algorithms on a whiteboard or shared editor.

  • Set matrix zeroes.
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #matrix
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
  • Pow(x, n).
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #math#recursion
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
  • Best time to buy and sell stock.
    SeniorEasy◆ Commonly asked
    #array#greedy
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
02

Round 02 · 2 questions

Machine Coding

Build a working component or service under time pressure.

  • Implement an LRU + TTL cache library.
    SeniorHard◆ Commonly asked
    #cache#ttl
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
  • Implement an idempotent "charge" endpoint.
    SeniorHard◆ Commonly asked
    #idempotency#payments
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
03

Round 03 · 2 questions

System Design

High-level architecture of a large-scale system.

  • Design a feature-flag service.
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #config#rollout
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
  • Design a rate limiter for a public API.
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #token-bucket#redis
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
04

Round 04 · 3 questions

Tech Deep-Dive

Deep questions on your core stack and fundamentals.

  • Trade-offs of gRPC vs REST vs GraphQL.
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #api-design
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
  • Explain the CAP theorem with a practical example.
    SeniorHard◆ Commonly asked
    #distributed
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
  • How do you design a public API for backward compatibility?
    SeniorMedium◆ Commonly asked
    #api-design
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
05

Round 05 · 1 question

Hiring Manager

Scope, ownership, and role-fit discussion with the manager.

  • How do you keep a team unblocked and shipping?
    Senior◆ Commonly asked
    #leadership
06

Round 06 · 2 questions

Behavioral / HR

Values, collaboration, and past-experience (STAR) questions.

  • Describe something you shipped that you were not proud of.
    Senior◆ Commonly asked
    #tradeoffs#star
  • Tell me about a project you are most proud of.
    Senior◆ Commonly asked
    #star

◆ This experience is composed from commonly reported questions for this role and level. Real, individually-shared interviews will be layered in over time.