Software Development Engineer Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington
December 1, 2012
Positive ExperienceGot Offer
Process
There are 5 interviews in a day. The final interview is conducted by the manager whose team you're going to join, and he has the final say in the hire/no-hire decisions. Each interview lasts about an hour.
Interviews are conducted in each interviewer's own office. After the interview(s), he or she walks you to the next interviewer's office.
I found people here at Microsoft to be very pleasant.
Questions
Design an algorithm for the game Rubik's Cube.
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 214 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Development Engineer role in Redmond, Washington.
Success Rate
45%
Pass 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
Positive75%
Neutral17%
Negative8%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Development Engineer interview process in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft Work Experiences
4.0
Broad Tech, Ms Tech Limited
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
October 18, 2013
Pros: Multiple Domains of Area to Work
Cons: - Outside opportunities limited to MS technology.
5.0
Microsoft is a terrific company
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
April 16, 2014
Pros: A lot of opportunities to move around.
Big transition and re-org.
Big ecosystem.
Friendly peers.
Benefits.
Good work-to-life balance.
Cons: A big company, I like this, but others may not.
There are times when it's super busy, but it is not always busy.
3.0
High Bureaucracy Tax
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
August 29, 2011
Pros: It's obviously an established and well-rounded company with plenty of smart people to work with and learn from.
The company focuses very hard on career development and tries to help you maximize your productivity.
A lot of people complain about one thing or another, but the bottom line is that they take good care of you in numerous ways.
Cons: There is a very high bureaucracy tax. There are many re-orgs to sidetrack entire teams, and individual obstacles (crazy frameworks for everything) are all over the place.
You have to be half-politician to have a successful career here, and the review process can be either lucrative or maddeningly arbitrary and painful (depending on many factors out of your control).
It's a great place for people who want to drink the Kool-Aid and settle and be comfortable, and it can be frustrating for others.
- 4.0Broad Tech, Ms Tech LimitedSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesOctober 18, 2013Pros: Multiple Domains of Area to WorkCons: - Outside opportunities limited to MS technology.
- 5.0Microsoft is a terrific companySoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesApril 16, 2014Pros: A lot of opportunities to move around. Big transition and re-org. Big ecosystem. Friendly peers. Benefits. Good work-to-life balance.Cons: A big company, I like this, but others may not. There are times when it's super busy, but it is not always busy.
- 3.0High Bureaucracy TaxSoftware Development Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesAugust 29, 2011Pros: It's obviously an established and well-rounded company with plenty of smart people to work with and learn from. The company focuses very hard on career development and tries to help you maximize your productivity. A lot of people complain about one thing or another, but the bottom line is that they take good care of you in numerous ways.Cons: There is a very high bureaucracy tax. There are many re-orgs to sidetrack entire teams, and individual obstacles (crazy frameworks for everything) are all over the place. You have to be half-politician to have a successful career here, and the review process can be either lucrative or maddeningly arbitrary and painful (depending on many factors out of your control). It's a great place for people who want to drink the Kool-Aid and settle and be comfortable, and it can be frustrating for others.
Microsoft Interview Questions
Explore Interview QuestionsTaro 75Google Interview QuestionsMeta Interview QuestionsAmazon Interview QuestionsApple Interview QuestionsNetflix Interview Questions
Explore Interview ExperiencesOpenAI Interview ExperiencesAnthropic Interview ExperiencesPerplexity Interview ExperiencesWindsurf Interview ExperiencesMistral AI Interview Experiences
