Software Development Engineer Interview Experience
November 1, 2010
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
One on-campus interview with their senior engineer. They asked about your experience and a simple programming question to see if you can program.
Then it's the on-site interview.
They were interviewing a group of people for Windows/Windows Live at that time. They gave a quick tour around the Microsoft campus and took you to have lunch.
There were four rounds of interviews. Each lasted 45 minutes. They all asked about your experience (your favorite project) and a puzzle/programming question.
Questions
How do you verify if a binary search tree is correct?
A car to travel a loop of cities with gas stations. You can look this up on CareerCup.
A size N array with elements of value 1 to N-1: how do you find any duplicate in the array? (Linear time, no extra memory overhead)
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1,003 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Development Engineer role.
Success Rate
30%
Pass Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Software Development Engineer roles is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive58%
Neutral32%
Negative11%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Development Engineer interview process.
Microsoft Work Experiences
5.0
Best Company, Needs Process Improvement
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Hyderābād, Telangana, India
December 8, 2021
Pros: Best company to work for.
Cons: Improve the development process and nothing else as of now.
3.0
Depending where you land, it may be a great place to work
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
August 29, 2009
Pros: First, it has some great benefits.
The Health Insurance is top-notch, and these days, that is really important.
It also has a number of morale events.
The campus is really good, especially with the latest additions.
You will most probably have your own office.
There are free Pop and Starbucks coffee.
It is fairly easy to get equipment.
The payment is good as well.
In addition, depending on which division or team you land, you may find a great work environment that will allow you to do your best work and work with some great people, and have reasonable working hours.
Cons: As I said in the "pros" above, it all depends on which division or team you land at the Company. Different divisions or teams can vary widely in terms of working environment. You may land in a good place, as I said before.
But you may land at some bad places, where the environment is almost hostile, and all interactions are very loaded. You may spend more time dealing with the inner politics of management and your co-workers than with actual work. It may also have rather unreasonable working hours and make your life quite stressful.
Finally, even though employees are supposed to move between teams fairly easily, that may not always be the case, and you may see yourself stuck in a not-so-desirable situation.
5.0
Smart Colleagues, Demanding Job
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
July 24, 2013
Pros: Helpful colleagues.
Some of them are highly technically competent; others are smart.
Cons: Hard work is needed to keep your job.
- 5.0Best Company, Needs Process ImprovementSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeHyderābād, Telangana, IndiaDecember 8, 2021Pros: Best company to work for.Cons: Improve the development process and nothing else as of now.
- 3.0Depending where you land, it may be a great place to workSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesAugust 29, 2009Pros: First, it has some great benefits. The Health Insurance is top-notch, and these days, that is really important. It also has a number of morale events. The campus is really good, especially with the latest additions. You will most probably have your own office. There are free Pop and Starbucks coffee. It is fairly easy to get equipment. The payment is good as well. In addition, depending on which division or team you land, you may find a great work environment that will allow you to do your best work and work with some great people, and have reasonable working hours.Cons: As I said in the "pros" above, it all depends on which division or team you land at the Company. Different divisions or teams can vary widely in terms of working environment. You may land in a good place, as I said before. But you may land at some bad places, where the environment is almost hostile, and all interactions are very loaded. You may spend more time dealing with the inner politics of management and your co-workers than with actual work. It may also have rather unreasonable working hours and make your life quite stressful. Finally, even though employees are supposed to move between teams fairly easily, that may not always be the case, and you may see yourself stuck in a not-so-desirable situation.
- 5.0Smart Colleagues, Demanding JobSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeFargo, North Dakota, United StatesJuly 24, 2013Pros: Helpful colleagues. Some of them are highly technically competent; others are smart.Cons: Hard work is needed to keep your job.
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