Software Development Engineer Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
February 1, 2010
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
The interview was for a software developer position in the Mac software department at Microsoft (MS).
They are hiring C++ developers to work on Outlook for Mac, as Entourage would be discontinued.
The interviewer was very kind and mentioned that he would start with basic Object-Oriented (OO) questions, such as polymorphism and virtual functions.
He then asked about:
- Providing an example of polymorphism.
- How to handle exceptions without using try and catch.
- Hashing.
- Explaining how virtual functions work at a low level.
- Linked Lists versus Arrays.
Questions
Explain the virtual function call mechanism at the memory level.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 7 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Development Engineer role in Mountain View, California.
Success Rate
57%
Pass Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Software Development Engineer roles in Mountain View, California is on the easier side as most engineers get an offer after going through it.
Experience Rating
Positive57%
Neutral43%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Development Engineer interview process in Mountain View, California.
Microsoft Work Experiences
4.0
I need more time to find out
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
September 5, 2013
Pros: Everyone has an office.
Everyone has an office.
Cons: Changes occurred a lot.
Changes occurred a lot.
3.0
An "Okay" place to work
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
October 7, 2014
Pros: You can have work-life balance. Compensation is good.
Cons: If you are in the wrong team, you might get stuck working on legacy code.
4.0
Nice people, good benefits.
A good place to learn software, but don't stay forever
Software Development Engineer • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
January 18, 2009
Pros: The health benefits are great. Being able to shut the door and concentrate on what you're working on is a big plus for many. The atmosphere among QA/Devs in the MSTV group was always professional. I had several different managers over the course of the 5 years I was there, and I felt they were helpful with career advice and planning, and gave honest reviews. Excellent internal discussion lists allow you to chime in and discuss products and issues across the company.
Cons: The company felt like it had too many layers of managers.
People outside the company can be snide when they discover your employer is Microsoft. I had more than a dozen incidents here in Silicon Valley where people got verbally hostile once they found out where I worked.
Traffic on the main highway outside the SV Campus is a nightmare at rush hour. You'll eventually feel like you're camped out inside Microsoft while your buddies on the outside are having fun making heroic stuff happen at startups.
- 4.0I need more time to find outSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesSeptember 5, 2013Pros: Everyone has an office. Everyone has an office.Cons: Changes occurred a lot. Changes occurred a lot.
- 3.0An "Okay" place to workSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesOctober 7, 2014Pros: You can have work-life balance. Compensation is good.Cons: If you are in the wrong team, you might get stuck working on legacy code.
- 4.0Nice people, good benefits. A good place to learn software, but don't stay foreverSoftware Development Engineer • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesJanuary 18, 2009Pros: The health benefits are great. Being able to shut the door and concentrate on what you're working on is a big plus for many. The atmosphere among QA/Devs in the MSTV group was always professional. I had several different managers over the course of the 5 years I was there, and I felt they were helpful with career advice and planning, and gave honest reviews. Excellent internal discussion lists allow you to chime in and discuss products and issues across the company.Cons: The company felt like it had too many layers of managers. People outside the company can be snide when they discover your employer is Microsoft. I had more than a dozen incidents here in Silicon Valley where people got verbally hostile once they found out where I worked. Traffic on the main highway outside the SV Campus is a nightmare at rush hour. You'll eventually feel like you're camped out inside Microsoft while your buddies on the outside are having fun making heroic stuff happen at startups.
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