Microsoft

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) Interview Experience

December 1, 2012

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I met with a campus recruiter and had a phone interview a few weeks later.

The phone interview lasted about 45 minutes. The first 15 minutes consisted of typical interview questions, followed by 15 minutes of discussing my past projects, and finally 15 minutes of "technical" questions.

Since the interviewer was in HR, it was challenging to delve into the more technical aspects.

Questions

How would you find a book in a library, given the author and title, but no catalog?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 314 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) role in United States.

Success Rate

37%

Pass Rate

Microsoft's interview process for their Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) roles in the United States is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive54%

Neutral39%

Negative7%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) interview process in United States.

Microsoft Work Experiences

Good work-life balance

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 21, 2024

Pros: Good work-life balance and benefits.

Cons: It is hard to move fast and make an impact.

Good work-life balance

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 21, 2024

Pros: Good work-life balance and benefits.

Cons: It is hard to move fast and make an impact.

Average Balance, Lots Firing

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Hyderābād, Telangana, India

August 30, 2024

Pros: Work-life balance is average.

Cons: But they're firing a lot nowadays.

Average Balance, Lots Firing

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Hyderābād, Telangana, India

August 30, 2024

Pros: Work-life balance is average.

Cons: But they're firing a lot nowadays.

Managers make or break the MSFTE experience. Politics matter more than output

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

September 28, 2011

Pros: New base salaries around 100k. New SDET focus on coding. Opportunity to write our own tools. Finally, a team that pushes for work/life balance. New manager is awesome and further shows that within Microsoft, you can have great and horrible experiences depending on who you report to. Some of the top engineers in the world work here.

Cons: Was stuck with a manager for several years that stagnated my growth. Commonsense dies the further you go up the management chain. 2-4th tier managers do not think about the bottom line and manage information up. We're too Top Down and stifle IC innovation. Too much email and at all hours. Too little in-person communication. A lot of push on opinions without open-mindedness to change or alternative options. "What my manager says, I do."

Managers make or break the MSFTE experience. Politics matter more than output

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

September 28, 2011

Pros: New base salaries around 100k. New SDET focus on coding. Opportunity to write our own tools. Finally, a team that pushes for work/life balance. New manager is awesome and further shows that within Microsoft, you can have great and horrible experiences depending on who you report to. Some of the top engineers in the world work here.

Cons: Was stuck with a manager for several years that stagnated my growth. Commonsense dies the further you go up the management chain. 2-4th tier managers do not think about the bottom line and manage information up. We're too Top Down and stifle IC innovation. Too much email and at all hours. Too little in-person communication. A lot of push on opinions without open-mindedness to change or alternative options. "What my manager says, I do."

Good work-life balance

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 21, 2024

Pros: Good work-life balance and benefits.

Cons: It is hard to move fast and make an impact.

4.0
Good work-life balance
Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
September 21, 2024
Pros: Good work-life balance and benefits.
Cons: It is hard to move fast and make an impact.

Average Balance, Lots Firing

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee

Hyderābād, Telangana, India

August 30, 2024

Pros: Work-life balance is average.

Cons: But they're firing a lot nowadays.

3.0
Average Balance, Lots Firing
Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Former Employee
Hyderābād, Telangana, India
August 30, 2024
Pros: Work-life balance is average.
Cons: But they're firing a lot nowadays.

Managers make or break the MSFTE experience. Politics matter more than output

Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Current Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

September 28, 2011

Pros: New base salaries around 100k. New SDET focus on coding. Opportunity to write our own tools. Finally, a team that pushes for work/life balance. New manager is awesome and further shows that within Microsoft, you can have great and horrible experiences depending on who you report to. Some of the top engineers in the world work here.

Cons: Was stuck with a manager for several years that stagnated my growth. Commonsense dies the further you go up the management chain. 2-4th tier managers do not think about the bottom line and manage information up. We're too Top Down and stifle IC innovation. Too much email and at all hours. Too little in-person communication. A lot of push on opinions without open-mindedness to change or alternative options. "What my manager says, I do."

4.0
Managers make or break the MSFTE experience. Politics matter more than output
Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) • Current Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
September 28, 2011
Pros: New base salaries around 100k. New SDET focus on coding. Opportunity to write our own tools. Finally, a team that pushes for work/life balance. New manager is awesome and further shows that within Microsoft, you can have great and horrible experiences depending on who you report to. Some of the top engineers in the world work here.
Cons: Was stuck with a manager for several years that stagnated my growth. Commonsense dies the further you go up the management chain. 2-4th tier managers do not think about the bottom line and manage information up. We're too Top Down and stifle IC innovation. Too much email and at all hours. Too little in-person communication. A lot of push on opinions without open-mindedness to change or alternative options. "What my manager says, I do."

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.

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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