Software Engineer II Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington
November 1, 2016
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
The interview process was an all-day event, during which I spoke with five different team members. The interviews were intensive, covering a wide range of topics such as how I would handle various programming situations, interactions with disagreeing managers, and my opinions on current technology-related events.
Questions
What is the difference between a clustered index and a nonclustered index?
How do you optimize this given for loop?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 26 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Engineer II role in Redmond, Washington.
Success Rate
50%
Pass Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Software Engineer II roles in Redmond, Washington is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive65%
Neutral27%
Negative8%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Engineer II interview process in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft Work Experiences
5.0
Great Culture and Good Future
Software Engineer II • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
January 18, 2021
Pros: The company works hard to ensure inclusiveness with its employees and products.
* Above average compensation for the area
* Good benefits
* Interesting products to work on
Cons: The compensation does not scale as well as other companies. If you want consistent salary and incoming growth, you might have to leave.
Certain teams and organizations are prone to long periods of crunch time. You might have to move around internally to get the preferred work-life balance.
There are a ton of re-orgs. In my 3 years at the company, I was moved, without my input, to 3 different teams and had 4 different direct managers.
3.0
Nice People, Stagnant Growth
Software Engineer II • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
September 26, 2025
Pros: Good work-life balance, flexible hours. Overall, I worked with nice people, and they were generally helpful and collaborative.
Cons: Constant restructuring and reorganization, which led to the deprecation of projects I was working on multiple times. I felt like nothing I worked on really mattered, and in the latter half of my time there, I felt very stagnated with little career growth.
4.0
Flexible But Lots Of Process
Software Engineer II • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
January 22, 2015
Pros: Microsoft offers a flexible workplace.
Cons: Lots of process to follow.
- 5.0Great Culture and Good FutureSoftware Engineer II • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesJanuary 18, 2021Pros: The company works hard to ensure inclusiveness with its employees and products. * Above average compensation for the area * Good benefits * Interesting products to work onCons: The compensation does not scale as well as other companies. If you want consistent salary and incoming growth, you might have to leave. Certain teams and organizations are prone to long periods of crunch time. You might have to move around internally to get the preferred work-life balance. There are a ton of re-orgs. In my 3 years at the company, I was moved, without my input, to 3 different teams and had 4 different direct managers.
- 3.0Nice People, Stagnant GrowthSoftware Engineer II • Former EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesSeptember 26, 2025Pros: Good work-life balance, flexible hours. Overall, I worked with nice people, and they were generally helpful and collaborative.Cons: Constant restructuring and reorganization, which led to the deprecation of projects I was working on multiple times. I felt like nothing I worked on really mattered, and in the latter half of my time there, I felt very stagnated with little career growth.
- 4.0Flexible But Lots Of ProcessSoftware Engineer II • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesJanuary 22, 2015Pros: Microsoft offers a flexible workplace.Cons: Lots of process to follow.
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