Microsoft

Software Development Engineer Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington

November 1, 2014

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

The process felt rather disorganized and impersonal. You were shuffled between grumpy interviewers, where it was clear you interrupted their work. This is probably true, as companies like this often have interview quotas for all employees.

It also seems there isn't much communication between departments or teams.

Questions

Coding questions involving:

Data structures
Big O notation
I/O
Search

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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

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

Refusal to Change: Microsoft Tries the Same Tactics 30 Years Later

Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Stability. Microsoft isn't going anywhere for a quite a while, and as long as you don't totally screw up, if they do close down your division or restructure, they are good about placing you somewhere else within the company. Working conditions are generally good. It's really hard to get fired from Microsoft, which is great for the employee.

Cons: Microsoft is made up of so much bureaucracy and red tape that it's difficult to really feel like you make a difference until you're higher up the chain. There are so many layers of management and so many silos that it's very difficult to get anything beyond trivial tasks done in a decent length of time. This leads to huge investments of time and money that probably aren't truly necessary.

Refusal to Change: Microsoft Tries the Same Tactics 30 Years Later

Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Stability. Microsoft isn't going anywhere for a quite a while, and as long as you don't totally screw up, if they do close down your division or restructure, they are good about placing you somewhere else within the company. Working conditions are generally good. It's really hard to get fired from Microsoft, which is great for the employee.

Cons: Microsoft is made up of so much bureaucracy and red tape that it's difficult to really feel like you make a difference until you're higher up the chain. There are so many layers of management and so many silos that it's very difficult to get anything beyond trivial tasks done in a decent length of time. This leads to huge investments of time and money that probably aren't truly necessary.

MS is changing

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

October 19, 2014

Pros: Great people and team, a great place to learn, flexible working hours, and the ability to work remotely. Good benefits.

Cons: Long working hours, not many opportunities for growth. Recent company layoffs made people feel unstable and lose motivation.

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

October 19, 2014

Pros: Great people and team, a great place to learn, flexible working hours, and the ability to work remotely. Good benefits.

Cons: Long working hours, not many opportunities for growth. Recent company layoffs made people feel unstable and lose motivation.

Microsoft is no longer as attractive to engineers as it used to be

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Better than average benefits; lots of internal openings.

Cons: Internal rivalry; Politics; Bureaucracy; Mediocre pay

Microsoft is no longer as attractive to engineers as it used to be

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Better than average benefits; lots of internal openings.

Cons: Internal rivalry; Politics; Bureaucracy; Mediocre pay

Refusal to Change: Microsoft Tries the Same Tactics 30 Years Later

Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Stability. Microsoft isn't going anywhere for a quite a while, and as long as you don't totally screw up, if they do close down your division or restructure, they are good about placing you somewhere else within the company. Working conditions are generally good. It's really hard to get fired from Microsoft, which is great for the employee.

Cons: Microsoft is made up of so much bureaucracy and red tape that it's difficult to really feel like you make a difference until you're higher up the chain. There are so many layers of management and so many silos that it's very difficult to get anything beyond trivial tasks done in a decent length of time. This leads to huge investments of time and money that probably aren't truly necessary.

2.0
Refusal to Change: Microsoft Tries the Same Tactics 30 Years Later
Software Development Engineer • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
April 24, 2008
Pros: Stability. Microsoft isn't going anywhere for a quite a while, and as long as you don't totally screw up, if they do close down your division or restructure, they are good about placing you somewhere else within the company. Working conditions are generally good. It's really hard to get fired from Microsoft, which is great for the employee.
Cons: Microsoft is made up of so much bureaucracy and red tape that it's difficult to really feel like you make a difference until you're higher up the chain. There are so many layers of management and so many silos that it's very difficult to get anything beyond trivial tasks done in a decent length of time. This leads to huge investments of time and money that probably aren't truly necessary.

MS is changing

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

October 19, 2014

Pros: Great people and team, a great place to learn, flexible working hours, and the ability to work remotely. Good benefits.

Cons: Long working hours, not many opportunities for growth. Recent company layoffs made people feel unstable and lose motivation.

3.0
MS is changing
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
October 19, 2014
Pros: Great people and team, a great place to learn, flexible working hours, and the ability to work remotely. Good benefits.
Cons: Long working hours, not many opportunities for growth. Recent company layoffs made people feel unstable and lose motivation.

Microsoft is no longer as attractive to engineers as it used to be

Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Better than average benefits; lots of internal openings.

Cons: Internal rivalry; Politics; Bureaucracy; Mediocre pay

3.0
Microsoft is no longer as attractive to engineers as it used to be
Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
July 24, 2013
Pros: Better than average benefits; lots of internal openings.
Cons: Internal rivalry; Politics; Bureaucracy; Mediocre pay

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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