Microsoft Interview Process for Software Engineers [2025]
Microsoft’s interview process includes stages like the Codility test, pre-recorded interviews, and technical and behavioral rounds designed to assess your skills and fit for the role. This page provides a detailed breakdown of each step, giving you the insights needed to understand what Microsoft is looking for in top candidates.
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Got that call or email about your software engineering application at Microsoft? If you’re feeling confused by conflicting info about the interview process, you’re not alone. Many candidates wonder:
- How many interview rounds are there?
- What questions are asked on Microsoft's phone interview?
- How to prepare for software engineer interviews?
This guide will help you answer these questions, and will walk you through all the stages ahead of you:
- A recruiter's phone call
- The online assessment
Online assessment practice questions - The on-site interviews
On-site practice questions
Let's get started.
What is Microsoft’s Interview Process for Software Engineers?
Microsoft’s interview process for software engineers is designed to evaluate both technical skills and cultural fit. If the hiring manager selects your application, you’ll be invited to a phone or video screening to discuss your qualifications, experience, and interest in the role. Successfully completing this step typically leads to the following stages:
1. A Recruiter’s Phone Call
Your recruitment process may begin with an HR recruiter’s phone call or directly with an invitation to the online assessment (Codility test).
If it starts with a phone call, expect a brief conversation where the recruiter will discuss your background, skills, and interests. This initial screening helps determine if you’re a good fit for the role and which team aligns best with your strengths.
Once you clear this step, you’ll proceed to the more challenging stages of Microsoft’s interview process, starting with:
2. The Online Assessment
Microsoft’s first-round interviews are typically remote, featuring an online Codility test, a phone screen interview, or both. Students applying on-campus may have face-to-face interviews with 1-2 easy-to-medium coding questions. Internship applicants often face both a Codility test and phone interview, focused on conceptual problems and easy coding challenges.
Microsoft Codility Test (Online Technical Screen)
This online technical screen (OTS) is hosted on the Codility platform and typically consists of 2-4 coding questions to be solved in 60-90 minutes. You’ll need to implement basic data structures and algorithms to solve the problems effectively.
Here are online assessment questions commonly asked by Microsoft:
Given a singly linked list of N nodes, find the middle element of the linked list.
If there are even nodes, meaning there would be two middle nodes, print the second middle element.
Example:
Input:
LinkedList: 1->2->3->4->5
Output: 3
Given a grid consisting of '0's(Water) and '1's(Land), find the number of islands.
Note: An island is surrounded by water and is formed by connecting adjacent lands horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. i.e., in all 8 directions.
Example:
Input:
grid = {{0,1},{1,0},{1,1},{1,0}}
Output:
1
Given an array Arr that contains N integers (may be positive, negative or zero), find the product of the maximum product subarray.
Example:
N = 5
Arr [ ] = {6, -3, -10, 0, 2}
Output: 180
Given a sorted linked list, delete all nodes that have duplicate numbers (all occurrences), leaving only numbers that appear once in the original list.
Example:
Input:
N = 8
Linked List = 23->28->28->35->49->49->53->53
Output:
23 35
Given a non-negative integer S, represented as a string, remove K digits from the number so that the new number is the smallest possible.
Note : The given num does not contain any leading zero.
Example:
Input:
S = “149811”, K = 3
Output: 111
Given a sorted array Arr[ ] (0-index based) consisting of N distinct integers and an integer k, find the index of k, if it’s present in the array Arr[ ]. Otherwise, find the index where k must be inserted to keep the array sorted.
Example:
Input:
N = 4
Arr = {1 , 3, 5, 6}
k = 5
Output: 2
Microsoft Phone Screen Interview
The Microsoft phone screen interview is a virtual interview conducted via Microsoft Teams or Skype. Lasting around 30 minutes, it features a mix of behavioral questions, 1-2 easy-to-medium coding problems, and conceptual questions designed to assess your problem-solving and communication skills.
With preparation and practice, you can confidently tackle these first-round interviews and move on to the next stage of Microsoft’s interview process.
What should I expect in a 30-minute phone interview?
Here’s what a typical phone interview might look like:
This question lets Microsoft evaluate your experience and how it aligns with the role. Focus on key achievements, projects that demonstrate your technical and problem-solving skills, and how they relate to the job requirements. Keep your answer concise and highlight the impact of your work.
Microsoft uses this question to test your ability to simplify complex concepts. You might say: “Recursion is like looking into a mirror that shows another mirror inside it—it keeps going until it stops. Similarly, recursion repeats a task within itself until it finds a solution.” Use an example, like a story or a simple problem, to make your explanation clear.
This classic problem tests logical thinking. Divide the apples into three groups of three. Use the scale to compare two groups:
- If one group is heavier, take three apples from that group and weigh two of them. The heavier apple will stand out.
- If both groups are equal, the heavier apple is in the group you didn’t weigh, and you can find it by weighing two apples from that group.
This question focuses on your coding philosophy and attention to detail. Highlight that good code works efficiently and meets requirements, while great code is also clean, maintainable, scalable, and well-documented, making it easier for teams to build upon.
This question assesses your knowledge of basic data structures. A linked list is a sequence of nodes where each node contains data and a reference to the next node in the sequence. It allows dynamic memory allocation and is commonly used for tasks like creating queues and stacks.
This question reveals your preferences and understanding of programming paradigms. Pick two languages you are confident with, and explain their key differences, such as syntax, performance, or application focus. For example:
“I enjoy Python for its simplicity and versatility, and C++ for its performance and control over system resources. While Python is great for quick development, C++ excels in areas where efficiency is critical.”
How long does it take to hear back after the first-round interview?
After completing Microsoft’s Codility test and/or phone screen interview, you’ll typically get an answer within 2-4 weeks - either a positive or a negative one. In some cases, it only takes a few days, but there's no need to worry if it takes longer than that.
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3. Onsite Interviews: What to Expect
Microsoft’s onsite interviews consist of 4-5 back-to-back sessions with team members, typically held on the same day. These sessions may be onsite or virtual interviews via Microsoft Teams or Skype, each lasting about an hour. To advance, you must pass each interview—if you don’t complete all the sessions, it likely means you didn’t progress.
Expect two types of Microsoft onsite interview questions: coding challenges and behavioral questions. Most sessions include 1-2 coding problems and behavioral questions. For SDE II and higher roles, system design questions may also be included.
Coding Challenges
You’ll solve coding problems in real-time, explaining your approach as you go. Interviewers may adjust the problem mid-way to test your adaptability to new constraints.
On-Site Interview Technical Questions
Given two singly linked lists of size N and M, write a program to get the point where the two linked lists intersect each other.
Example:
Input:
LinkList = 3 ->6 ->9 ->common
LinkList2 = 10 ->common
Common = 15 ->20 ->NULL
Output: 15
A celebrity is a person who is known to all but does not know anyone at a party. The celebrity may or may not be present at the party. You need to find if there's a celebrity in a party of N people.
Example:
Input:
N = 3
M[ ] [ ] = { {0 1 0},
{0 0 0},
{0 1 0} }
Output: 1
Given a binary tree and a node, find the grandparent of a given node in the binary tree.
See full questions and solutions on our Online Assessment prep course.
Our preparation course focuses on Microsoft's Online Assessment. Some of the questions are on a similar level as the onsite interview technical questions, this prep will also help prepare for those.
The “As Appropriate” (AA) Interview
The AA interview is the final step before receiving an offer. In this round, you’ll meet with a senior Microsoft executive who will address any remaining gaps from your previous assessments. Depending on your earlier performance, the focus may be on behavioral questions, technical questions, or both. If you’ve performed well in the earlier rounds, this interview may also include efforts to “sell” Microsoft to you, ensuring you’re excited to join the company if offered a role.
Behavioral Questions: What Makes Microsoft Unique?
As part of this stage, you’ll be asked behavioral questions to explore your motivation for joining Microsoft and how well you align with the company’s culture. These questions aim to uncover why you specifically want to work at Microsoft and how your experiences and values fit within the organization.
On-Site Interview Behavioral Questions
This is often the opening question, designed to break the ice and understand your career journey. Focus on key highlights that relate to the role, including your education, professional experience, significant achievements, and why you’re excited about Microsoft. Keep your response concise and aligned with the job requirements.
Microsoft uses this question to gauge your technical interests and enthusiasm. Be specific about a technology or tool you’re excited about and explain why. Highlight how this passion connects to Microsoft’s products or values, showing that your interests align with the company’s mission.
This question tests your knowledge of Microsoft’s offerings and your ability to critically analyze them. Choose a product you’re familiar with, such as Microsoft Teams or Azure, and explain why it stands out to you. Then, discuss its limitations and suggest realistic improvements, showing your analytical thinking and innovation skills.
This question evaluates your teamwork and conflict-resolution skills. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to describe a specific conflict, your approach to resolving it, and the positive outcome. Highlight your ability to communicate effectively and maintain professionalism.
Microsoft values adaptability and a growth mindset. Share an example where you successfully picked up a new skill, emphasizing the steps you took to learn it, how you applied it to your work, and the impact it had on your project or team.
This question seeks to understand your career motivation and passion for the field. Discuss what inspired you to pursue software engineering, such as problem-solving, creativity, or building impactful solutions. Connect your goals to Microsoft’s mission to make technology accessible and transformative.
So now you must be thinking,
How To Prepare for Microsoft SE Interviews?
Preparing for Microsoft’s interview process may feel overwhelming, but breaking it down into focused steps can make it manageable. Here are four key tips to help you succeed:
- Practice Coding Interview Questions
Microsoft’s coding interviews focus heavily on data structures and algorithms, so practice is crucial. Start with easy coding problems and gradually work up to more complex challenges. Set a realistic goal, like solving two problems daily, and stick to it. Focus on previously asked Microsoft questions to ensure your practice aligns with what you’ll encounter. - Review Basic Computer Science Concepts
Brush up on foundational topics like operating systems, DBMS, computer networks, and data structures. Be ready to explain concepts like recursion or binary trees simply and clearly. Teaching these concepts to a friend or yourself can help solidify your understanding. - Research Microsoft and the Position
Microsoft values candidates who show genuine interest in their company. Explore Microsoft’s culture, products, and values on their website. Think about what excites you about the role and the company. Consider reaching out to people who have worked at Microsoft to learn from their experiences and gain unique insights. - Reflect on Related Experiences
During behavioral interviews, interviewers assess your communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Reflect on meaningful projects or experiences, focusing on what you learned, challenges you overcame, and how they shaped you. Be ready to share examples that highlight your ability to adapt, grow, and contribute to a team.
By focusing on these preparation strategies, you can confidently tackle each stage of Microsoft’s interview process, one step closer to landing an offer. Good luck, and let us know if you have any questions—we’re here to help!
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