As a cleared engineer, I required a specific clearance level, making my experience likely unique compared to those on public teams. This process took place entirely online during COVID. I received a follow-up from a recruiter the day after applying, and my first screening interview occurred within a week.

Before the screening, I had a 30-minute phone conversation with my recruiter to address any concerns. The screening interview was a straightforward chat with a team member, including a quick competency check on a level similar to FizzBuzz. If you performed well, your recruiter would follow up within a day or so, and you would then be scheduled for a series of four back-to-back interviews.

Another 30-minute conversation with my recruiter preceded this series. The interviews were all conducted by the actual team members I would be working with, so I made it a priority to ask them meaningful questions about the work and get to know them personally. They were all wonderful, and speaking today, I am proud to work with such an amazing team.

These interviews were scheduled in one-hour blocks. Typically, the first 15 minutes involved questions from the interviewers (behavioral, prior experience, etc.), followed by 30 minutes dedicated to solving a technical problem. The interviewers aimed to guide rather than watch candidates struggle. Some problems were challenging, but interviewers would often step in with hints or steer me in a productive direction when I was off course. In one instance, it felt like the interviewer and I were collaborating to solve the problem as if we were already on the same team. It was a positive experience.

The fourth interview at Microsoft is somewhat different. It is typically granted if at least two of the preceding three interviews were successful. This final interview is conducted by someone higher up in the organization. In my case, it was my manager's manager, a principal software manager with a PhD, two Master's degrees, and two bachelor's degrees. This individual was incredibly intellectual, and no amount of LeetCode practice could have prepared me for the hour I spent with him. Ultimately, it was the most profoundly positive interviewing experience I have ever had. The questions felt custom-tailored to my personal interests, and he even taught me new things. It was excellent.

Approximately four days later, my recruiter called with an offer. I negotiated a higher salary and received an offer I was happy with within three days.

I was told not to release the questions publicly, but (at least from the first three interviews) they were generally the sort of problems one might see on LeetCode.

They ranged anywhere from the harder side of easy to medium.

I've heard rumors (but cannot confirm personally) that the interview questions asked to cleared personnel are slightly easier than questions asked by the public team.

I would say that if you want to succeed in the interview, you need a very strong grasp of the fundamentals, but none of the questions I saw were really related to architecture or system design.

If I had the knowledge I have now before interviewing, I would have read "Cracking the Coding Interview" cover to cover for sure.