Acing Your Ticketmaster Interview: Top Questions and Answers

️ What is Ticketmaster? Ticketmaster is an online service that lets people buy tickets for live events like concerts, sports games, plays, and more.

Adding features that are out of scope is a “nice to have”. Your interviewer can help you change your priorities based on what they want to see in the interview. It shows that you think about the product. That said, its very much a nice to have. If additional featuers are not coming to you quickly, dont waste your time and move on.

It’s important to think about your strategy before you start designing the system. For these common users with product-style questions, the plan should be easy: build your design up step by step, going through your functional requirements one by one. This will help you stay focused and ensure you dont get lost in the weeds as you go. When you’re done with the functional requirements, your non-functional requirements will help you with the deep dives.

I like to begin with a broad overview of the primary entities. At this stage, it is not necessary to know every specific column or detail. We will focus on the intricacies, such as columns and fields, later when we have a clearer grasp. Setting up these key entities will help us think through the process and give us a solid base as we move forward with defining the API.

In the actual interview, this can be as simple as a short list like this. Just make sure you and your interviewer go over the entities together to make sure you understand them.

As you move on to design, your goal is simple: make a system that meets all of the functional and non-functional needs. To do this, I suggest that you first meet the functional requirements and then add the non-functional requirements on top of that. This will help you stay focused and ensure you dont get lost in the weeds as you go.

The API for viewing events is straightforward. We create a simple GET endpoint that takes in an eventId and return the details of that event.

Most of the time, your interviewer will be able to figure out what the data returned by the API means by reading between the lines of your core entities and the requirement we’re meeting. They will either tell you or you can ask them if they want you to go into more detail, but don’t be too wordy—you have a lot to cover, and going over all the fields in the Event object might not be the best use of your time!

We want to make sure that once a user chooses a ticket, it stays theirs until they finish the purchase. This way, no one else can buy it while they’re trying to check out.

We’re going to need two API endpoints, one for each of the steps in the process:

Lastly, we only need one GET endpoint for search. This endpoint should accept a set of search parameters and return a list of events that match those parameters.

️ What is Ticketmaster? Ticketmaster is an online service that lets people buy tickets for live events like concerts, sports games, plays, and more.

In the actual interview, this can be as simple as a short list like this. Just make sure you and your interviewer go over the entities together to make sure you understand them.

The API for viewing events is straightforward. We create a simple GET endpoint that takes in an eventId and return the details of that event.

We want to make sure that once a user chooses a ticket, it stays theirs until they finish the purchase. This way, no one else can buy it while they’re trying to check out.

We’re going to need two API endpoints, one for each of the steps in the process:

Lastly, we only need one GET endpoint for search. This endpoint should accept a set of search parameters and return a list of events that match those parameters.

Landing an interview at Ticketmaster means you’ve impressed hiring managers with your resume and skills. Now you have the opportunity to showcase why you’d be a great fit for the team. Preparing for commonly asked Ticketmaster interview questions can help calm nerves so you can focus on nailing thoughtful, memorable answers.

In this article we’ll overview examples of popular questions asked in Ticketmaster interviews along with tips to craft strong responses. Mastering answers to these typical inquiries can get you one step closer to joining the team of this iconic live entertainment company.

Why Do You Want to Work at Ticketmaster?

Hiring managers want to gauge your genuine interest in the company. Expect an early question about why you want to work for Ticketmaster specifically.

Do your research ahead of time on Ticketmaster’s mission, values, products, and culture. Identify a few unique factors that drew you in. Maybe you were compelled by:

The massive, far-reaching live event portfolio spanning 100,000 shows per year
Industry-leading technology like risk management algorithms and interactive seat mapping
Values like innovation, transparency, and fan-first thinking
Diverse opportunities to grow and advance across multiple business lines
The lively music-loving office culture

Convey excitement about aspects of the company that align with your interests, skills, and ambitions. Show you understand Ticketmaster’s business and brand inside-out.

Why Are You Interested in This Role?

Along with interest in Ticketmaster broadly, interviewers want to know what excites you about the particular position you applied for.

Explain why the role is the right next step for you based on your background and career goals. Show how your existing skills directly translate to excelling in the day-to-day work.

Highlight any experiences, natural strengths, or knowledge areas you hope to leverage more heavily in the role. Conveying your fit and eagerness will get the conversation headed in a positive direction.

How Do You Handle a Difficult Customer?

Since Ticketmaster employees regularly interface with customers, expect interviewers to ask behavioral questions about dealing with clients. One common inquiry: how do you handle a difficult or angry customer?

Illustrate your answer with an example of successfully turning around a tense customer interaction. Explain the situation briefly then walk through your thoughtful approach, like:

Hearing the customer’s perspective and frustrations fully
Responding with empathy and understanding
Presenting solutions tailored to the customer’s needs
Remaining calm and constructive throughout

Emphasize how you always make client satisfaction the top priority even in challenging situations. These types of answers will assure hiring managers you can maintain composure and strengthen customer relationships.

Tell Me About a Time You Went Above And Beyond For a Customer.

Along with asking about difficult customers, interviewers may probe your commitment to customer satisfaction by questioning when you’ve gone above and beyond.

Pick an example that highlights your dedication and creative problem-solving. Explain briefly:

What the customer’s problem or request was
How you came up with an unexpected solution
Why your approach delighted them

For example, maybe you upgraded a customer to better concert seats for free after hearing their special occasion plans got rained out. Share what motivated you to make the extra effort. Demonstrating how you take ownership in enhancing the fan experience can make you stand out.

What Are Your Strengths and Areas for Improvement?

The strengths and weaknesses question often comes up in Ticketmaster interviews. Hiring managers want insight into your self-awareness.

When discussing your strengths, pick 2-3 that would enable you to thrive in the specific role. For a marketing job, you may choose strengths like creativity, strategic thinking and collaboration. Provide a quick example illustrating each strength in action.

For areas of improvement, mention skills that are less crucial to the role like public speaking or networking skills. Then, explain the active steps you’re taking to grow in those weak spots, which reassures hiring managers you can self-correct.

How Do You Handle a Demanding Workload With Changing Priorities?

Working in live entertainment comes with constantly evolving, deadline-driven projects and peak periods. Expect Ticketmaster interviewers to ask behavioral questions about handling fluctuating workloads and priorities with poise.

Respond by outlining key strategies like:

Proactively planning and re-prioritizing tasks using project management systems
Creating contingency timelines and schedules to adapt to last-minute changes
Checking in frequently with leadership and collaborators to re-align on shifting priorities
Staying focused by isolating must-do tasks when resources are limited
Asking for support balancing workload when needed

Giving examples of how you operate under pressure can assure hiring managers you have the flexibility and focus needed to manage changing timelines and priorities amidst the unpredictable nature of live events.

How Would You Handle Working Weekends and Evenings?

Since covering events requires schedule flexibility, expect Ticketmaster interviewers to ask about your availability to work variable hours including weekends and evenings.

Emphasize you are fully committed to working the hours necessary to deliver excellent live event coverage whenever that may be. You can highlight any past experience working alternative shifts as proof. Also share what motivates you to take on unusual schedules, whether it’s your adaptability, dedication to the team, or passion for live entertainment. This convinces managers you can embrace projects that happen outside of traditional work hours.

What Interests You About Our Company Culture and Values?

Ticketmaster prides itself on maintaining a lively, music-loving work environment even as it grows globally. Many interviews include questions probing what part of the company culture appeals to you.

Do your research on Ticketmaster’s stated values and office perks. Maybe their emphasis on transparency, diversity, and creativity resonates with you. Or their wellness benefits, employee spotlights, and casual dress code attract you. Identifying specific cultural elements that align with your own principles and preferences makes your interest come across as authentic.

How Do You Stay On Top of Industry Trends?

Given how rapidly the event marketplace evolves, Ticketmaster seeks candidates immersed in live entertainment and technology trends. Be ready to discuss how you actively educate yourself, like through:

Reading industry publications like Pollstar, Festicket, or Skift
Listening to podcasts covering new tech, experiences, and business models
Following key voices within music, sports, and live events on social media
Talking with friends in relevant entertainment roles
Attending conferences and tradeshows when possible
Experimenting with new consumer-facing technology and platforms

Giving examples demonstrates you take initiative to stay knowledgable, which is valued in an industry full of constant change.

How Would You Improve the Ticketmaster Customer Experience?

Sometimes Ticketmaster interviewers will ask candidates to propose ideas for improving customers’ experience with Ticketmaster. This allows them to assess your strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Think through a couple innovations you could suggest if asked this question. For example, you might propose:

An interactive venue 3D seat map to enhance event browsing
A virtual queuing system to reduce wait times for hot shows
Loyalty rewards for frequent Ticketmaster users
An improved recommendation engine connecting fans to ideal events

When presenting your idea(s), explain the customer pain point addressed and how your concept provides an elegant solution. Speaking knowledgeably about enhancing the fan journey can showcase your strategic abilities and passion for live events.

Preparing responses to common Ticketmaster interview questions ahead of time allows you to make a stellar impression. With some practice and these tips, you can emphasize the strengths that make hiring managers take notice. Use the advice in this article to help craft winning answers that land you the job. Best of luck with your upcoming Ticketmaster interview!

Users should be able to book tickets to events

This time we have a bit more to consider though. We need to ensure that the ticket is locked for the user while they are checking out. Also, we need to make sure that if the customer stops checking out, the ticket is made available for other customers to buy. Finally, we need to make sure that when a user finishes the checkout process, the ticket is marked as sold and the reservation is sealed. Here are a couple ways we could do this:

Bad Solution: Pessimistic Locking

Good Solution: Status & Expiration Time on Ticket Table

Great Solution: Distributed Lock with TTL

In this case, lets go with the great solution and use distributed lock. We can now update our design to support this flow.

Here is what we added:

New Records in Events DB: First, we add two new records to our database. These are Bookings and Tickets. The Bookings table will hold information about each reservation, such as the user ID, ticket IDs, total price, and status of the reservation. The information about each ticket, such as the event ID, seat information, price, and status, will be kept in the Tickets table. There will be a bookingId column in the Tickets table that connects it to the Bookings table.
Booking Service: The main parts of the ticket booking process are handled by this microservice. It talks to databases that hold information about reservations and tickets. It interfaces with the Payment Processor (Stripe) for transactions. The booking service changes the status of the ticket to “sold” once payment is confirmed. It talks to the Bookings and Tickets tables to get information, change information, or store information. It uses a Redis Distributed Lock to make sure that a user’s ticket is locked while they check out. This lock is released when the purchase is finished or when the TTL runs out.
A payment processor, like Stripe, is an outside service that takes care of transactions. When a payment is made, the booking service is notified of the transaction status.
For Ticket Lock, Redis is used to set up a distributed lock that keeps a user’s ticket locked while they check out. This lock is gone when the buyer finishes the purchase or after 10 minutes have passed.

Now, when a user wants to book a ticket:

The interactive seat map will be used to choose a seat. This will make a POST request for booking and checkout with the seat’s ticket ID.
Our load balancer will send the request to our API gateway, which will then send it to the Booking Service.
That ticket will be locked by the Booking Service by adding it to our Redis Distributed Lock with a TTL of 10 minutes. This is how long we will hold on to the ticket.
The Booking Service will also add a new booking to the database and mark it as “in-progress.”
And then we’ll send the user their newly made booking ID and send them to the payment page. If the person stops here, the lock will automatically unlock in 10 minutes, letting someone else buy the ticket.
The person will enter their payment information and click “Purchase.” When you do this, the payment and bookingId are sent to Stripe to be processed, and Stripe lets you know via webhook that the payment went through.
When Stripe confirms a payment, our system’s webhook gets the bookingId that is stored in the Stripe metadata. With this bookingId, the webhook starts a database transaction that updates both the Ticket and Booking tables at the same time. This means that in the Ticket table, the status of the ticket that is linked to the reservation is changed to “sold.” The corresponding booking entry in the Booking table is marked as “confirmed” at the same time. “.
Now the ticket is booked!

Users should be able to search for events

Hey, that’s great that we can now book a ticket! But how do people find events to begin with? When they visit your site for the first time, they expect to be able to look for events that are coming up. This search will be parameterized based on any combination of keywords, artists/teams, location, date, or event type.

Let’s start with the most basic thing you could do. You only need to connect your search service to your database and ask it questions by using the fields in the API request as filters. This has issues, but it’s a good starting point. We will dig into better options in the deep dives below.

When a user makes a search request, its straightforward:

The search terms are sent in a REST GET request by the client.
Our load balancer takes the request and sends it to the API gateway that has the fewest other connections going through at the moment.
After basic authentication and rate limiting, the API gateway sends the request to our Search Service.
The Search Service then checks the Events DB for events that match the search terms and sends them back to the client.

With the core functional requirements met, its time to dig into the non-functional requirements via deep dives. These are the main deep dives I like to cover for this question:

The degree to which a candidate should proactively lead the deep dives is a function of their seniority. In a mid-level interview, for example, it makes perfect sense for the interviewer to lead most of the deep dives. However, in senior and staff+ interviews, the level of agency and ownership expected of the candidate increases. In order to deal with the system, they should be able to think of ways to do it that the interviewer might not have expected.

Design Ticketmaster – System Design Interview (with Senior Amazon TPM)

FAQ

Why do you want to work for Ticketmaster?

Being part of a company that helps people experience their favorite artists and shows would be incredibly fulfilling for me. Additionally, I am drawn to the fast-paced and innovative environment that Ticketmaster offers.

Why should we hire you?

A: When answering, focus on your relevant skills, experience, and achievements that make you the best fit for the role.You should hire me because I am a hard worker who wants to help your company succeed. I have the skills and experience needed for the job, and I am eager to learn and grow with your team .

How to respond to the greatest weakness?

If this is your weakness, you can share how you’re striving to improve by giving yourself a deadline for all revisions and being proactive about changes, so you’re not waiting until the last minute: Example: “My greatest weakness is that I sometimes have a hard time letting go of a project.

What is it like working at Ticketmaster?

Co-workers and management pretty professional and realistic. Pay scale is low considering workload required. People have asked 56 questions about working at Ticketmaster. See the answers, explore popular topics and discover unique insights from Ticketmaster employees. What is the interview process like at Ticketmaster?

How do I apply for a job at Ticketmaster?

I interviewed at Ticketmaster (Vancouver, BC) in Mar 2023 Application: The first step is typically to submit an application through the company’s career website or job board. Phone screen: The company may conduct a brief phone screen to ask some preliminary questions and gauge your interest in the position.

What questions do they ask during an interview?

They will ask you about your experience, skills, and interest in the position. They may also ask some behavioral and technical questions to assess your fit for the role. Second-round interview: If you pass the first-round interview, you may be invited back for a second interview.

What was the tech interview question like?

The tech interview question was solving a practical real-world problem, which was easy for a hands-on software developer who has had experience with large scale projects. All the people I had interacted with so far were smart and down to earth. They were patient and all appeared to care about my success.