Software Engineer Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington
Process
I was contacted by a recruiting firm and asked for a phone interview the following week. I really should have declined and tried again later, as I was not prepared.
I then had a Skype interview.
The questions were simple, though I completely messed up one of them. This meant I did not get to go forward. In case you were wondering, you can only apply again in 6-9 months, which I looked everywhere to find out before I accepted the interview, but couldn't find.
Questions
Find the longest palindrome in a string.
How would you design something? Also, binary trees.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 207 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Engineer role in Redmond, Washington.
Success Rate
Microsoft's interview process for their Software 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 Engineer interview process in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft Work Experiences
- 1.0Low Pay, Poor LeadershipSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesMay 23, 2023Pros: No pros for Microsoft now.Cons: - Very low compensation. - Messy reduction in force (stretched over 3 months and everyone, including managers, were on edge, low morale). - Poor leadership. - Slow growth (senior software engineers have been there for 14 years). - Feels outdated.
- 4.0A great place to work, with great benefits and cultureSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesFebruary 16, 2025Pros: I love working at Microsoft for the most part. The pay is mediocre compared to other big tech companies, but it is not inherently bad. The benefits make it worth it in my opinion; healthcare doesn't come out of each paycheck, for example. Great company culture; I love the "growth mindset" focus. I have had 3 managers in 3 years. My teams and managers have always been respectful and encouraging.Cons: On-call can be stressful; it's team-dependent. Some internal systems and tools have existed for decades. Learning them can be weird and doesn't always translate to other companies well. Promotion velocity has been slow despite being consistently praised in performance reviews, with managers agreeing I am already performing at the next level, etc.
- 5.0Great Culture, Lacking PaySoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, Washington, United StatesSeptember 1, 2025Pros: Culture is great. WFH is a good perk.Cons: Pay is less as compared with other tech companies.
Microsoft Interview Questions
