Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 2.9 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 82% positive. To compare, the company-average is 70% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 17 days to get hired, when considering 17 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 44 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Software Engineer according to 17 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 34%
One on one interview: 28%
Skills test: 14%
Presentation: 10%
Background check: 7%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Group panel interview: 3%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Feb 2021
Interview
1st round: 30 mins with developer on Codility doing a medium question
Final round: 4 x 45 minutes back to back on Codility (with 15 min break in between). Each interviewer will give usually one Easy or Medium, which you're expected to complete in approximately 30 minutes with a close-to-optimal solution. They will also give you 2 - 3 behavioural questions (less about specific projects on your resume, and more "Tell me about a time when you... xyz".
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a linked list and an int k, how would you swap the value of the kth element from the head with the kth element from the tail?
Given an n-nary tree, how would you perform zigzag level-order traversal?
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Melbourne)
Interview
After submitting an online application, I received a HackerRank assessment after passing the resume screening stage, then I was rejected after completing the assessment and did not proceed to further interview rounds.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The assessment consisted of two LeetCode-medium-level coding questions to be completed within 75 minutes.
45 mins technical interview with a member of their San fran team. Very relaxed and informal but questions were focused and lots of follow ups. Easy to schedule as was over video conferencing platform
Straightforward technical loop overall, with strong interviewers at every stage. I genuinely enjoyed the in-depth conversations around technical challenges and algorithmic problem-solving — the entire process felt well-structured and genuinely engaging.