Microsoft Interview Experience for SDE

I recently got interviewed for a SDE role at Microsoft, and I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else in their job search! Here’s the breakdown, from that initial recruiter message to the offer letter.

How it Began:

It all started with a message on LinkedIn. A recruiter from Microsoft contacted me, asking if I wanted to give interview. Since I was already on a notice period, I decided to give it a try.

My Background:

I graduated with a B.Tech from the International Institute of Information Technology (Hyderabad) in 2021 in CSE branch. After that I joined as Software Engineer at Sandvine Technologies. My primary tech stack there was C/C++, but I also used Python, Bash scripting, and YANG for various projects. After almost 2.6 years, I decided it was time for a change, and here I was, ready to put my interview preparation to the test.

Interview Process:

The interview process at Microsoft consisted of 5 rounds:

Round 1: Online Coding Round

The recruiter shared a Codility test link. While I can’t recall the exact questions, they were within the easy to medium difficulty range. After clearing the Codility test, I received a call for further interviews.

Round 2: Technical Interview (1 Hour)

• We began with introductions before diving into technical questions:
• Implementation of code to reverse a linked list in parts of ‘K’, where every ‘K’ nodes should be reversed.
• Writing code to find an element that is repeated more than n/2 times in an array.

Round 3: Technical Interview[Low level design](1 Hour)

We started with introductions.

Technical Question

Implement logging framework meeting specific requirements such as supporting different log levels (debug, info, error) and allowing the addition of various appenders for each log level. It should also have the capability to dynamically modify the log level and add appenders during runtime.

Round 4: Technical Interview[High level design] (1 Hour)

After introductions, we discussed high-level design question:

Designing the classic Snake game.

Round 5: Hiring Manager (1 Hour)

We started with introductions. Followed by a mix of technical and non-technical questions:

Technical Questions

Write code to check if given set of words can be chained together. A word chains with another word if the last three characters of the word match exactly with the first three characters of the next word.

Focused more on my experience and the projects I mentioned in my resume. Hiring manager asked me to elaborate on a projects I worked on at my previous company.

The Verdict:

After 4 days, HR called to inform me that I had been selected!

Overall Thoughts:

Based on my experience I realised that interviewers don’t just look for the right answer, they want to see how you arrive at it. Don’t be afraid to discuss your thought process as you approach the problem. Explain your approach, consider different options, and justify your decisions.

Treat the interview as a chance to work together with the interviewer. Ask questions, discuss different solutions, and be open to feedback. In my case, the interviewers were friendly and supportive, showing genuine interest in my skills and thought process.

I hope this breakdown helps anyone preparing for software development engineer interviews