Hardware Engineer Interview Experience - Seattle, Washington
February 1, 2012
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I had a 1:1 interview for a first round and talked to hardware engineers about my interest in power electronics and control systems. The interview went well, and I was informed three weeks after that I had made it to the final rounds in Seattle.
It took about three months for them to set up the final rounds. They mentioned that they had told more people than they should have about the final rounds; nevertheless, I was selected.
I arrived in Seattle thinking I would continue my interview process for the same position in electronics hardware engineering. However, I was surprised to see that my five interviews were all about mechanical engineering, structural mechanics, and product design, which was not made clear to me before starting. Needless to say, I was unprepared for that kind of interview and didn't do as well as I had hoped.
Questions
Deriving beam bending relations
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 7 interview experiences for the Microsoft Hardware Engineer role in Seattle, Washington.
Success Rate
14%
Pass Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Hardware Engineer roles in Seattle, Washington is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive57%
Neutral29%
Negative14%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Hardware Engineer interview process in Seattle, Washington.
Microsoft Work Experiences
4.0
Nice place to work
Hardware Engineer • Former Employee
August 30, 2015
Pros: Working with very friendly and nice colleagues who are willing to help each other.
A great working environment where you can try a lot of things.
Cons: Salary is not very good, with a low increase. They only have yearly reviews, and there is no exception for high-performance staff.
5.0
Great Culture, Pay Needs Work
Hardware Engineer • Current Employee
April 14, 2022
Pros: Great culture and work-life balance.
Cons: Not competitive with pay compared to other FANG.
1.0
Very bad management. Nothing as it seems from the outside
Hardware Engineer • Current Employee
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
August 22, 2021
Pros: The company has many divisions, large facilities, and all means for employees to fulfill themselves and make a great business impact through technology.
Salaries are good, facilities are top-notch, and there are many activities encouraging creative thinking.
I believe that career opportunities should be great, but it really depends on how supportive the direct manager is.
Cons: Nothing is like what was offered prior to signup. There isn't any governance regarding promotions, bonuses, rewards, etc.
Whoever is close to the direct management benefits from all Microsoft has to offer, regardless of their impact, technical skills, or efforts. Very often, managers make things very personal. They give the employee the minimum possible under the terms of Microsoft, while taking advantage of many ambiguities to their favor.
Paternity leave and annual vacation days are a must. However, they will justify the demand from an employee to keep working while on vacation by "Critical urgent needs." This enforces employees to cancel already ordered vacations, a day or two before the set date, leaving the employee to bear the costs, while other employees are prioritized and are allowed to have long vacations over the same period of time.
No clear pathway for career development and promotions. Managers will interpret level advancement criteria from their perspective, just in order to prevent certain employees from advancing their careers. Likewise, they provide false negative feedback with made-up failures to sabotage the employee's chances of changing roles in the organization, leaving the employee the only option of leaving.
Needless to say, none of the pledges are ever fulfilled, always with "perfect" pretexts.
- 4.0Nice place to workHardware Engineer • Former EmployeeAugust 30, 2015Pros: Working with very friendly and nice colleagues who are willing to help each other. A great working environment where you can try a lot of things.Cons: Salary is not very good, with a low increase. They only have yearly reviews, and there is no exception for high-performance staff.
- 5.0Great Culture, Pay Needs WorkHardware Engineer • Current EmployeeApril 14, 2022Pros: Great culture and work-life balance.Cons: Not competitive with pay compared to other FANG.
- 1.0Very bad management. Nothing as it seems from the outsideHardware Engineer • Current EmployeeTel Aviv-Yafo, IsraelAugust 22, 2021Pros: The company has many divisions, large facilities, and all means for employees to fulfill themselves and make a great business impact through technology. Salaries are good, facilities are top-notch, and there are many activities encouraging creative thinking. I believe that career opportunities should be great, but it really depends on how supportive the direct manager is.Cons: Nothing is like what was offered prior to signup. There isn't any governance regarding promotions, bonuses, rewards, etc. Whoever is close to the direct management benefits from all Microsoft has to offer, regardless of their impact, technical skills, or efforts. Very often, managers make things very personal. They give the employee the minimum possible under the terms of Microsoft, while taking advantage of many ambiguities to their favor. Paternity leave and annual vacation days are a must. However, they will justify the demand from an employee to keep working while on vacation by "Critical urgent needs." This enforces employees to cancel already ordered vacations, a day or two before the set date, leaving the employee to bear the costs, while other employees are prioritized and are allowed to have long vacations over the same period of time. No clear pathway for career development and promotions. Managers will interpret level advancement criteria from their perspective, just in order to prevent certain employees from advancing their careers. Likewise, they provide false negative feedback with made-up failures to sabotage the employee's chances of changing roles in the organization, leaving the employee the only option of leaving. Needless to say, none of the pledges are ever fulfilled, always with "perfect" pretexts.
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