Pandora Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated May 27, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 8 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 8 ratings
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| 1–8 of 8 Pandora Interviews | Sort by |
Engineering at Pandora
Posted May 27, 2012
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2010 (took a day)
really fun
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Skills Test and a Background Check.
More Pandora Engineering Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Recruiting at Pandora
Posted May 2, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 in Oakland, CA (took 1 week)
The interview team was organized and very clear in their needs for the position. They moved quickly to make a hiring decision and provided good answers to help me in my decision. I had several places to go at the time but the company's commitment to hiring the best talent was a closer for me.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Excellent
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Engineering at Pandora
Posted Apr 11, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Jul 2011 in Oakland, CA (took 4 days)
Recruiter called me for phone screen.
Then the manager called me for a phone screen.
Then there was an onsite interview with 5 people.
People were smart and friendly.
Interview Questions
Reason for Declining
Accepted another offer closer to home.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
More Pandora Engineering Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Research Archivist Internship at Pandora
Posted Nov 15, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 (took 2 weeks)
After handing my resume to a Pandora recruiter at a job fair, I was contacted over email a few weeks later. They scheduled a phone interview with me that consisted of fairly basic questions and a brief job description. I was then asked to come in for an in-person interview in their offices. When I got there I was interviewed by the person who initially contacted me for about 30 minutes. I was then interviewed a second time by another employee for another 30 minutes. Questions generally were geared towards my own experiences and how I could contribute to Pandora. I heard they were interviewing 4-5 other people and that I would be informed in a week of their decision. Unfortunately it has been over a month and I have heard neither an acceptance or a rejection from them, but I take their ignorance of my email and phone call as a rejection. Overall, it was an okay experience, but I would have expected them to at least send me a rejection email instead of ignoring me because they contacted me first.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Human Resources at Pandora
Posted Aug 2, 2011
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2011 in Oakland, CA (took 2 weeks)
I applied online and was contacted by a recruiter the following week. We setup a 20-30 minute phone screen. The recruiter asked about 4-5 questions, mostly focused on my experience in relation to the requirements of the job and my salary requirements. A few days later, the recruiter invited me to come into the office for an interview. I had 45 minute interviews with two people: an HR Manager and the VP of HR. The questions were very straightforward (e.g. Why do you want to work here? What would you do in the first 100 days?). The VP said they are looking for "the perfect candidate" and will keep looking until they find him/her.
They seem to be going through typical growing pains associated with transitioning from a startup to a mid-sized company (e.g. putting in more structure and processes, ramping up quickly while retaining the company culture, hiring the right people and make tough decisions on the wrong hires / low performers, etc.). From the little exposure I got, their culture appeared to value being collegial (e.g. agreeing on most things, being very careful not to rock the boat), getting along, and teamwork. I got the sense that they had great admiration for the CEO and the Founder, took the little snipets they'd say about a topic as the final direction/decision (without really questioning it), and their job was then to make that happen.
In the end, it turned out to be a poor fit for both sides so we didn't move forward. I met a lot of nice people there and I hope they figure out how to keep a good thing going. I love their product and they have a nice head start in online music, but it's going to be tough fending off the giants like Apple, Google, or even challengers like Spotify, etc.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Engineering at Pandora
Posted Apr 6, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 (took a day)
After being at an extremely even more successful somewhat related start-up company for many years, I wasn't aware of the latest flavor of "interviewing." Basically, someone with the company's .com address is really just a contract outside recruiter that screens you. It's kind of like a driver's test you should study up for when renewing your driver's license after a few years. Had I known I was going to be grilled on a random list of basic to medium concepts (which really did catch me off guard) I would have known to pull out the old certification manuals for the initial screening. My prior job was a perfect match, and I was successful at it. Sadly, I got no true feel about the Pandora company culture or the business model they are working towards. I know all about the 80+ hour work weeks an employee described here.
Sure, I know it's sexy working in the music industry and that attracts a lot of applicants, but don't be too full of yourselves. For budding start-ups, it really takes more of a "family" feeling that drives one to work those long hours to make history happen. Trust me, I've been there.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
More Pandora Engineering Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Pandora
Posted Feb 6, 2011 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 in Oakland, CA (took a day)
Met head of engineering at a college career fair and quickly god a call from technical HR agent. Discussed that they were looking for a frontend engineer and someone who could eventually learn java, perfect for me since frontend is what I do and I know java but it had been a few years. Then he proceeded to ask me exclusively java questions that would have been easy if I had prepared for a java interview. "what's the difference between an interface and a abstract class"
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Lead Systems Engineer at Pandora
Posted Jul 24, 2010 — 4 of 4 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jul 2010 in Oakland, CA (took a day)
Started out with a phone interview. This company from the outset seemed very picky and asked some difficult questions - with a major emphasis on personality. The second interview was a technical grilling - some of the questions were *really* difficult, but they flew me onsite anyway.
I interviewed with about five people over six hours. The first interviewer grilled me on information regarding the current company I worked at, regarding performance and business info. When I did not have that available (some of it was proprietary anyway) he held that against me. This interviewer I felt was unprofessional and inappropriate. The rest of the interview was a very difficult technical grilling, with some asides for personality based questions. I felt that I got along pretty well with the rest of them, and think it's a pretty good team.
The company is headquartered in Oakland, in a building that had its windows shattered by the recent riots. This was not a very good neighborhood, and two days later there was a robbery of another interview candidate about two blocks away. I would not have accepted the position even if it were offered because of the first interviewer and the neighborhood/location.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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