Microsoft

Software Engineer Interview Experience

June 13, 2019

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

The first round was an on-campus technical interview. This was followed by an on-site interview in Seattle, consisting of 4/5 interview rounds. The interviews were technical and included concepts on computer engineering, databases, and security.

Questions

Sorting of a binary search tree, grid game

Was this helpful?

Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 999 interview experiences for the Microsoft Software Engineer role in United States.

Success Rate

25%

Pass Rate

Microsoft's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in the United States is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive64%

Neutral26%

Negative11%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Software Engineer interview process in United States.

Microsoft Work Experiences

Good Balance, Startup Culture

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Pros: - Work-life balance - Decent pay - Enough WFH

Cons: Organizational culture is increasingly adopting characteristics typical of startup environments.

Good Balance, Startup Culture

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Pros: - Work-life balance - Decent pay - Enough WFH

Cons: Organizational culture is increasingly adopting characteristics typical of startup environments.

A lot to learn, but can sometimes feel like the "grandpa" of tech companies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: - Very smart coworkers to learn from - Great benefits - Usually a good work/life balance (depending on team)

Cons: - No free lunches. - Not as open to fully-remote as other companies. - Bad at moon-shots. Start-up-like environment, but with none of the benefits. You are paid the same as everyone else, despite working more and having more stress.

A lot to learn, but can sometimes feel like the "grandpa" of tech companies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: - Very smart coworkers to learn from - Great benefits - Usually a good work/life balance (depending on team)

Cons: - No free lunches. - Not as open to fully-remote as other companies. - Bad at moon-shots. Start-up-like environment, but with none of the benefits. You are paid the same as everyone else, despite working more and having more stress.

Good Wlb, Tough On-call

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Prague, Czech Republic

Pros: Great company to work for. Most teams really value work-life balance and sustainable performance.

Cons: Sometimes on-call can be a drain. A lot of layoffs recently have been affecting the mood.

Good Wlb, Tough On-call

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Prague, Czech Republic

Pros: Great company to work for. Most teams really value work-life balance and sustainable performance.

Cons: Sometimes on-call can be a drain. A lot of layoffs recently have been affecting the mood.

Good Balance, Startup Culture

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Pros: - Work-life balance - Decent pay - Enough WFH

Cons: Organizational culture is increasingly adopting characteristics typical of startup environments.

5.0
Good Balance, Startup Culture
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
August 3, 2025
Pros: - Work-life balance - Decent pay - Enough WFH
Cons: Organizational culture is increasingly adopting characteristics typical of startup environments.

A lot to learn, but can sometimes feel like the "grandpa" of tech companies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: - Very smart coworkers to learn from - Great benefits - Usually a good work/life balance (depending on team)

Cons: - No free lunches. - Not as open to fully-remote as other companies. - Bad at moon-shots. Start-up-like environment, but with none of the benefits. You are paid the same as everyone else, despite working more and having more stress.

4.0
A lot to learn, but can sometimes feel like the "grandpa" of tech companies
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
June 22, 2021
Pros: - Very smart coworkers to learn from - Great benefits - Usually a good work/life balance (depending on team)
Cons: - No free lunches. - Not as open to fully-remote as other companies. - Bad at moon-shots. Start-up-like environment, but with none of the benefits. You are paid the same as everyone else, despite working more and having more stress.

Good Wlb, Tough On-call

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Prague, Czech Republic

Pros: Great company to work for. Most teams really value work-life balance and sustainable performance.

Cons: Sometimes on-call can be a drain. A lot of layoffs recently have been affecting the mood.

5.0
Good Wlb, Tough On-call
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Prague, Czech Republic
June 21, 2025
Pros: Great company to work for. Most teams really value work-life balance and sustainable performance.
Cons: Sometimes on-call can be a drain. A lot of layoffs recently have been affecting the mood.

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.

Copyright © Taro