I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Xero (Auckland, Auckland) in Apr 2015
Interview
There were two online tests, to gauge my general coding ability and my skill in Java.
There was then an assessment day at Xero. There were two groups of people. We then had a research questions, where you have time to research on a topic that you pick out of a hat and then present your findings to a panel of judges, who ask you questions about it. There is then a 1 on 1 interview to go through what you know and your past experience. After that there was a lunch break where you get to speak to different developers working in the office. My group then got to work with Lego and we had to build something with limited pieces, as we were building something we had extra requirements enforced (eg. to not use a certain piece) and we had to adapt to the changes. Lastly there was another interview with the HR department.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Xero (Melbourne) in Mar 2026
Interview
It takes too long. The questions are difficult. Also there is a behavior test, not sure whether this test is useful. The technical questions are good:
Lead technical design and implementation of complex features and systems
Write high-quality, maintainable code and automated tests
Make pragmatic architectural and technical decisions that balance short-term delivery with long-term sustainability
Coding assessments: Can be live or take-home. pair programming with a given codebase.
Behavioral + teamwork: Interview with non-engineers (e.g., PMs) to probe how you work in teams, handle conflict, and resolve issues.
I applied online. I interviewed at Xero (Sydney) in Jun 2025
Interview
There were 4 rounds.
1) Chat with internal recruiter to check your values, experience and aspirations.
2) Coding challenge: Test conducted on HackerRank. Not overly hard but wouldn't say its simple. The engineer overseeing the test (Cath) was a legend and made me feel at ease.
3) Execution & Cross-Functional Collaboration Discussion: Chat with someone from a non-engineering team. Expect questions around your way of working, challenges you've faced and how you resolve conflicts.
4) Culture Fit & Team Interview: 2 senior/lead engineers check if you fit their teams. Expect questions about your technical background, your exposure to the technologies these teams use and challenges you've face.
Even though I didn't get the job I walked away having learned a lot and the feedback provided by the internal recruiter (Raisa) was very detailed and will help me in my future endeavours.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Write a function that takes in 2 string. Return true or false if a condition is met.
