Microsoft

Principal Software Development Lead Interview Experience - United States

October 27, 2013

Neutral ExperienceGot Offer

Process

Relatively simple programming and design questions.

Questions

Implement a lock.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Microsoft Principal Software Development Lead role in United States.

Success Rate

100%

Pass Rate

Microsoft's interview process for their Principal Software Development Lead roles in the United States is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.

Experience Rating

Positive0%

Neutral100%

Negative0%

Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Microsoft's Principal Software Development Lead interview process in United States.

Microsoft Work Experiences

Pros and Cons of Working at Microsoft for 10+ Years

Principal Software Development Lead • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

October 13, 2016

Pros: You're able to get a variety of experiences. You can move around teams, but staying in the same team for a minimum of 5 years lets you develop enough expertise for you to be the SME for an area.

Cons: The company is changing, but teams still act in silos and fight for ownership.

Pros and Cons of Working at Microsoft for 10+ Years

Principal Software Development Lead • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

October 13, 2016

Pros: You're able to get a variety of experiences. You can move around teams, but staying in the same team for a minimum of 5 years lets you develop enough expertise for you to be the SME for an area.

Cons: The company is changing, but teams still act in silos and fight for ownership.

Great experience. Great company. Great people

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Great people for the most part. I learned so much in the 18 or so years I was there. Different groups have their different idiosyncrasies, and these even change over time. So what you might hear from one person in one org will not necessarily be true in a different place.

Cons: Once I hit the principal level, I felt that the politics really took off. Up to that point, it really felt that my work stood for itself. I'm not a political kind of guy, and that was the overwhelming reason why I left.

Great experience. Great company. Great people

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Great people for the most part. I learned so much in the 18 or so years I was there. Different groups have their different idiosyncrasies, and these even change over time. So what you might hear from one person in one org will not necessarily be true in a different place.

Cons: Once I hit the principal level, I felt that the politics really took off. Up to that point, it really felt that my work stood for itself. I'm not a political kind of guy, and that was the overwhelming reason why I left.

Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

November 20, 2014

Pros: Great salary. Sometimes the work can be interesting and meaningful. Starting to change, but it's hard to change with so much legacy crap and invested bureaucracy. Everything that happens there is usually a 100+ person project, so that's good and bad. The good is that it can be hugely impactful, and the bad is that it's slow as molasses.

Cons: Lots of churn and uncertainty. The review systems and stack ranking still exist, even if managers deny it! (I was a manager there.) This results in way too much dishonesty and "looking good" to managers to get top compensation. Folks are afraid of looking bad, so there's a lack of candor about issues.

Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

November 20, 2014

Pros: Great salary. Sometimes the work can be interesting and meaningful. Starting to change, but it's hard to change with so much legacy crap and invested bureaucracy. Everything that happens there is usually a 100+ person project, so that's good and bad. The good is that it can be hugely impactful, and the bad is that it's slow as molasses.

Cons: Lots of churn and uncertainty. The review systems and stack ranking still exist, even if managers deny it! (I was a manager there.) This results in way too much dishonesty and "looking good" to managers to get top compensation. Folks are afraid of looking bad, so there's a lack of candor about issues.

Pros and Cons of Working at Microsoft for 10+ Years

Principal Software Development Lead • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

October 13, 2016

Pros: You're able to get a variety of experiences. You can move around teams, but staying in the same team for a minimum of 5 years lets you develop enough expertise for you to be the SME for an area.

Cons: The company is changing, but teams still act in silos and fight for ownership.

4.0
Pros and Cons of Working at Microsoft for 10+ Years
Principal Software Development Lead • Current Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
October 13, 2016
Pros: You're able to get a variety of experiences. You can move around teams, but staying in the same team for a minimum of 5 years lets you develop enough expertise for you to be the SME for an area.
Cons: The company is changing, but teams still act in silos and fight for ownership.

Great experience. Great company. Great people

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Great people for the most part. I learned so much in the 18 or so years I was there. Different groups have their different idiosyncrasies, and these even change over time. So what you might hear from one person in one org will not necessarily be true in a different place.

Cons: Once I hit the principal level, I felt that the politics really took off. Up to that point, it really felt that my work stood for itself. I'm not a political kind of guy, and that was the overwhelming reason why I left.

5.0
Great experience. Great company. Great people
Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
July 14, 2016
Pros: Great people for the most part. I learned so much in the 18 or so years I was there. Different groups have their different idiosyncrasies, and these even change over time. So what you might hear from one person in one org will not necessarily be true in a different place.
Cons: Once I hit the principal level, I felt that the politics really took off. Up to that point, it really felt that my work stood for itself. I'm not a political kind of guy, and that was the overwhelming reason why I left.

Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

November 20, 2014

Pros: Great salary. Sometimes the work can be interesting and meaningful. Starting to change, but it's hard to change with so much legacy crap and invested bureaucracy. Everything that happens there is usually a 100+ person project, so that's good and bad. The good is that it can be hugely impactful, and the bad is that it's slow as molasses.

Cons: Lots of churn and uncertainty. The review systems and stack ranking still exist, even if managers deny it! (I was a manager there.) This results in way too much dishonesty and "looking good" to managers to get top compensation. Folks are afraid of looking bad, so there's a lack of candor about issues.

3.0
Principal Software Engineer
Principal Software Development Lead • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
November 20, 2014
Pros: Great salary. Sometimes the work can be interesting and meaningful. Starting to change, but it's hard to change with so much legacy crap and invested bureaucracy. Everything that happens there is usually a 100+ person project, so that's good and bad. The good is that it can be hugely impactful, and the bad is that it's slow as molasses.
Cons: Lots of churn and uncertainty. The review systems and stack ranking still exist, even if managers deny it! (I was a manager there.) This results in way too much dishonesty and "looking good" to managers to get top compensation. Folks are afraid of looking bad, so there's a lack of candor about issues.

Microsoft Interview Questions

Minimum Edge Reversals So Every Node Is Reachable

You're given a directed graph. Determine the minimum number of edges you need to reverse so that every node becomes reachable from node 0.

GraphsDynamic Programming

Two Sum

Find two numbers in a given array that add up to a specific target value, and return their indices. Essentially, you need to efficiently locate the pair that satisfies the sum requirement.

ArraysStringsTwo Pointers

Valid Word

Determine if a given word is considered valid based on a specific set of rules or constraints. The goal is to check if the input string adheres to the specified validation criteria.

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