More politics than Congress
More politics than Congress
Great benefits, surrounded by lots of raw intellect, individual offices. Virtually unlimited resources.
The review process is, in a nutshell, horrible. On small teams, the "curve" approach forces even the most talented engineers to be in the 10% bucket. In the test world, there is little to zero chance of advancing to Senior or Principal from level 59; you most certainly have to leave the company and come back.
Pay is so-so compared to other companies in the Bay Area. The egos you encounter here will boggle your mind. Microsoft hires based on raw intellect and places little to no value on the ability to communicate.
Belief that the best talent should be promoted to leadership. The IC path is very unknown. Extremely political.
Grow your ICs.
Avoid the "old boys' club" mentality.
Was this helpful?
Microsoft Interview Questions
Microsoft Interview Experiences
Software Engineer II
It was a good and in-depth interview experience. Rounds: * Online assessment * Phone screen * 4 loops rounds (Coding, system design, Low level, Coding + low level) Just be prepared with all concepts and take mock interviews.
Software Engineer
The interview process was quick. There were three technical rounds: * One with a difficult and picky interviewer. * Two with relatively chill interviewers. The problems were likely LeetCode easy to medium level, with system design questions in
Software Engineer
Technical interview, then a four-interview-long loop. Basic LeetCode and system design, which I wasn’t prepared for. It took a full month until they rejected me. Oh well! Try, try again.
Software Engineer II
Mountain View, California, United StatesSeptember 1, 2025It was a good and in-depth interview experience. Rounds: * Online assessment * Phone screen * 4 loops rounds (Coding, system design, Low level, Coding + low level) Just be prepared with all concepts and take mock interviews.
Software Engineer
Mountain View, California, United StatesMay 30, 2025The interview process was quick. There were three technical rounds: * One with a difficult and picky interviewer. * Two with relatively chill interviewers. The problems were likely LeetCode easy to medium level, with system design questions in
Software Engineer
Mountain View, California, United StatesNovember 10, 2024Technical interview, then a four-interview-long loop. Basic LeetCode and system design, which I wasn’t prepared for. It took a full month until they rejected me. Oh well! Try, try again.
