Google & Rolls-Royce report toughest job interviews, Glassdoor data finds

Over a third of candidates have rejected a job offer following a negative interview, ranging from long processes to unprepared interviewers. But how much do these poor experiences cost companies?

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Interested in the best and worst companies to interview for, digital PR agency Reboot Online analysed the 100 best employers’ Glassdoor profiles and more than 300,000 reviews to reveal those with the highest percentage of negative and positive experiences, alongside their difficulty rating.

Key findings

• Spotify & Indeed interviewees report the most negative interview experiences
• Four out of the 10 worst experiences come from IT companies
• LEGO, Salesforce & Rolls-Royce candidates report overwhelmingly positive experiences
• Google has the hardest interview process of all companies

Find the dataset here.

Companies with the worst interview experiences 

	Company	Industry ADVERTISEMENT	Percentage of negative interviews
1	Spotify Technology	IT Software & Services	37% ADVERTISEMENT
2	Indeed	IT Software & Services	29%
=3	PayPal	Banking and Financial Services	28%
=3	Shopify	IT Software & Services	28%
=3	Netflix	Media & Advertising	28%
4	Nintendo	Media & Advertising	26%
5	Logitech International	Semiconductors, Electronics, Electrical Engineering	25%
=6	Adobe	IT Software & Services	22%
=6	Deutsche Telekom	Telecommunications Services, Cable Supplier	22%
=6	Shiseido	Construction, Chemicals, Raw Materials	22%

Spotify holds highest percentage of negative experiences

Reboot Online discovered that candidates interviewing at Spotify had the highest percentage of negative experiences among the world’s top 100 employers, with almost two in five (37%) reporting a bad experience. Common complaints include cite recruiter ghosting, generic rejection emails and interviewers arriving late.

Surprisingly, 29% of candidates recall negative interviews at Indeed. Despite being the world’s number one job site, it ranks second overall. With over 1,800 reports on Glassdoor, Indeed is one of the four IT companies to feature in the top 10, suggesting a wider industry issue.

PayPal, Shopify and Netflix follow closely with 28% of candidates reporting negative interview experiences. Despite all three being highly desirable places to work, the fast-paced cultures don’t leave candidates with a good impression, as one in three left unimpressed.

Overall, 15% of candidates report a negative interview experience.

Companies with the hardest interview process

Difficult interviews do not correlate to bad experiences

Interestingly, difficult interviews do not correlate to bad experiences. Many of the companies ranking in the top 10 report low negative interview experiences.

Reboot Online found that Google has the highest difficulty score among the 100 best companies to work at in 2025. With a score of 3.5 out of five, it lives up to its reputation for having a tough interview process. Despite this, 63% of candidates left feeling like the interview was positive, with just 13% citing it as negative.

NVIDIA, Rolls-Royce, Salesforce and Meta are also among the hardest companies to interview for, with an average score of 3.2. Due to their competitive hiring practices, attracting top-tier candidates allows them to be selective and enforce a more rigorous interview process. Salesforce and Rolls-Royce candidates both report high levels of positive interview experiences with 80% and 75% happiness, respectively.

Unsurprisingly, IT companies dominate the list of hardest companies to interview for.

• Find dataset with the full list of companies and industries with the worst and best interviews, alongside those with the hardest processes, here.