Software Development Engineer Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington
Process
I started the recruiting process by handing my resume to a recruiter at a job fair at my university. I then had a very easy on-campus screening. Following that, I waited for about a month before they invited me for an interview in Redmond in April 2017.
They flew me into Redmond, rented a car for me, and hosted me in a nice hotel. Early on the morning of the interviews, I showed up at their recruiting center, and they sent me to the team that was interviewing me. I had five long interviews, each lasting about an hour.
I had a very positive experience, even if a couple of the interviewers decided to play devil's advocate, trying to poke holes into my solutions. One of my interviewers was also a visiting engineer from China, which definitely made communication a bit hard.
I got an official offer the next day after my interview.
Questions
The interview covered mostly questions on big data, string management, and data structures.
One of the interviewers also asked a lot about the theory of networking protocols.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 214 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Development Engineer role in Redmond, Washington.
Success Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Software Development Engineer roles in Redmond, Washington is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Development Engineer interview process in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft Work Experiences
- 5.0Software Developer EngineerSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesNovember 12, 2016Pros: Amazing benefits, great work-life balance, continuous improvement of skills. If you want to be lazy, you can and you will get lazy rewards. If you want to be super active, you can be and also get super good rewards.Cons: Not everyone on your team might have ownership and commitment to the projects, so you might sometimes take on more work.
- 4.0Experience differs greatly by groupSoftware Development Engineer • Former EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesDecember 19, 2009Pros: Microsoft is really a dozen companies in one. Pick carefully, and don't just think, "Oh, it's Microsoft." Groups differ greatly in their culture and management. If you work for a really well-run group, then you can combine the benefits of working in a 200-person company with the benefits of working in an 80,000-person company. The small group can give a sense of purpose and esprit de corps, while the large company can provide good healthcare, a stable environment, and lots of learning opportunities. Go to the lunch tech talks to learn about the technology underlying other products. Go to MSR to hear about what's going on in the blue-sky research world. Flexible work hours, an informal attitude towards hierarchy, and the ability to hop around between groups at Microsoft to work on different technologies without the hassle of having to change companies. If you get a sense of the landscape and know the landscape well, you can avoid most of the Cons listed below.Cons: There is definitely a lot of dissatisfaction at upper management, especially Ballmer. The recent layoffs have taken a toll on morale. Again, it really differs by group. Some groups got hit harder than others. If you're in a bad group, you might get stuck in a death march for two years. You might have coworkers who don't give a **** about the product and are just sitting around collecting checks. But if you're in a good group, see Pros.
- 3.0Stable But Politics, No InnovationSoftware Development Engineer • Former EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesMarch 25, 2013Pros: A solid, stable company with a steady revenue stream.Cons: Too much politics and favoritism, not enough original ideas and innovation. No vision for growth.
Microsoft Interview Questions
