From iPump to Spotify. A school project also opened the door for an MU graduate

Author: Irena Diatelová for em.muni.cz

Petr Zvoníček, a computer scientist, has been developing mobile applications since his studies at Masaryk University. He got into them thanks to a special course at the Faculty of Informatics. Ten years ago - at a time when mobile applications were not nearly as widespread as they are today - the faculty was one of the first in the Czech Republic to open a course on Application Development for Mobile Platforms.

Petr, together with three of his classmates, created a mobile app called iPump, which tracks petrol prices in the Czech Republic. The app is still one of the most downloaded apps for iPhones. The successful project then opened the door for him to work for Futured, a Brno-based mobile app development company. From there, after three years, he headed straight to Spotify.

Getting a job at Spotify was probably not easy. How did you get it?

I had been considering trying to work abroad for a while. Maybe partly because I was excited about Erasmus in Norway and wanted to go somewhere again. At the same time, I really like music and I love going to concerts, so the idea of working for Spotify gradually crystallized in me. It was kind of a combination of music and Scandinavia, which I really liked. I thought about it for maybe six months. I filled out an online application one evening and then it was off and running. Thinking back on it, the most challenging part was convincing myself to apply.

What was your interview like?

I applied for a position as a mobile app developer for the iOS operating system. The interview process had four rounds in total and I worked up quite a sweat. The first three rounds were online. First, there were some more technical interviews, which were easier for me. Then there was the so-called values interview, where the managers were looking at how I work, if I'm independent, if I'm a team person and so on. This was challenging because there was no one right answer to their questions, and it was hard to gauge what they wanted to hear.

For the last, fourth round, they invited me directly to Stockholm for two days, so I could see the offices and the city itself, which I was immediately impressed with. I had everything covered, flights and accommodation, which was great. In Stockholm, I had four one-hour interviews, each time with a different person and on a different topic - a technical topic, again a value interview and a meeting to present any project I had created myself. This was followed by an hour lunch break, where I had lunch with three random colleagues who I could ask what it was like to work at Spotify. This was very rewarding for me. Then I went home and about two days later I got the call that I was hired, which I was very happy about. From the beginning I didn't have much confidence that it would work out - not many people get invited to the first round. I was even more happy about it.

You've been working at Spotify for over four years now. What exactly does your job entail?

It's a very diverse and interesting job. For three years I worked in a team of eight people and our task was to improve the mobile app and the environment for new users. We worked on different parts of the user experience, from improving search to designing the app. My job involved a lot of programming, but there were also weeks where we didn't program, but worked through various analyses as a team to determine what made sense to spend time on with the implementation. So I got to try out other things like product thinking as well as the complex process of making decisions and finding the best idea that is most useful for the product.

The period when Spotify was entering the Indian market, which works very differently, was also very interesting. In Europe, for example, it is common for users to search for music by artist. But in India, it's mostly by the title of Bollywood movies, which is a specific popular genre where there is a lot of music. Or they search by the name of an actor who sings on playback. So we had to create a specific technical solution for India. We had completely different challenges when we entered another South Asian or South American market. That was also a very interesting experience.

A year ago you moved to a different position. What are you involved in now?

I wanted to learn something different again, so I moved to a completely different team where we develop the technology behind the app to ensure it runs and continues to grow. It was a big change and something completely new. But I'm really enjoying it. I'm creating something that helps and makes the work of my fellow developers easier, and it's quite fitting that I've been working "on the other side" for three years. It gives me a pretty good understanding of what my colleagues need for their work. But it took a while to get the hang of it.

What's it like working at Spotify?

I'm very happy. It's a fulfilling job, being able to help develop a product that half a billion people around the world use. We're one of the world's biggest music streaming services and I'm excited to see the impact our work is having on people. I also really like the international team in the company and the diversity. I get to meet people from different cultures every day and it's always interesting to me. I also really appreciate how the company tries to develop and educate its employees, we constantly have different trainings on hard skills and soft skills to push us further.

I also enjoy Stockholm itself, it's a great place to live. It's close to nature, there are hundreds of islands around the city and there's always something to do. It's also not that far to the Czech Republic. A lot of my colleagues have homes much further away. But it wasn't easy during the covid and home office days.

You mentioned that you like listening to music. How often do you use Spotify?

All the time, actually. I play music on Spotify every day at work. And when I'm not listening to Spotify, I'm playing vinyl records at home. I have over a hundred of them in Stockholm. But I really like Spotify, I've been using it for more than ten years and it still hasn't lost its charm for me. On the contrary, thanks to the work I've done to improve it, I can appreciate the service more than ever. And I like it even more.