Interview Experiences

Real candidates, real loops: every round, what was asked, and how it ended.

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72 stories

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MicrosoftData Scientist
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Data Scientist interview: modeling and experiment design

The loop was intense and technically demanding, with work that felt closer to real modeling than trivia. After a recruiter-style step, I discussed an ML project and the trade-offs in evaluating it. We focused on classification with asymmetric costs, and I explained SHAP in the context of what I'd built. I was surprised to get a precision-and-recall question very close to one I'd practiced. Later…

OfferTechnical Screen0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: quick take-home follow-up and manager interviews

I heard back quickly after applying and again after the take-home step. Then I went straight into three interviews, all with managers. The overall vibe was professional and easy to talk to. The conversations felt thoughtful instead of stressful. It seemed they wanted to understand my work and how I communicated, and I left each session feeling that I had covered the points they were listening for…

0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: HackerRank queue with two stacks

My Microsoft process began with a HackerRank online assessment. After that came three live coding rounds on HackerRank, each with some behavioral questions mixed in. The behavioral questions were direct: why Microsoft, a time I failed, and how I learn a new skill. For coding, I had problems such as building a queue with two stacks and filtering an array efficiently. They also asked about data str…

Online Assessment0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: respectful manager and technical rounds

I had two Microsoft interviews: one with the hiring manager and one technical interview. Both were respectful and kind, which made the process less stressful than the usual hiring loop. The recruiter was responsive, so the wait did not drag on. The manager conversation was professional and supportive, and the technical interview had the same tone. It felt like a discussion rather than a harsh cro…

Technical Screen0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: nerves on an easy opening question

My experience began with an initial screening round that felt generally easy. I got nervous early and bottled up on the first easy question, which caught me off guard because the overall vibe did not match how tense I felt inside. The process stayed consistent with that: the first stage was meant to be approachable and did not seem designed to trick me. Still, I learned that an easy question can…

Technical Screen0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: correct solutions that still timed out

My technical rounds were mostly classic DSA questions, but efficiency mattered most. I could tell they were judging more than whether my logic worked. My approach also had to be optimized enough to pass the last few tests. Time limits were part of the challenge, and if I wrote something too slow, the end of the test suite failed. The process stayed focused on performance. The stressful part was n…

Technical Screen0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience: Binary search first, then graph problems

I had an online assessment first, followed by two live coding interviews. The experience was pretty middle-of-the-road for me: not relaxed, but not chaotic either. The first coding interview had a medium LeetCode-style binary-search problem, while the second shifted to graphs. I also discussed general software-development principles and problem-solving. The interviewers were professional and easy…

Online Assessment0
MicrosoftApplied Scientist
Reported Jul 2026

Microsoft Applied Scientist interview with a last-minute virtual cancellation and long HR wait

The interview itself seemed technically normal at first, but the communication around it became the hardest part. I was called for a virtual interview, then received an email minutes before it was due to start saying it was canceled. They said they would reschedule, but I never received a new time. Later, I did manage to complete an interview, but it still did not feel like there was closure. HR…

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MicrosoftData ScientistSenior+
Jun 2026

AI-Assisted ML Round, Rejected on Level Calibration

Background: about 4 years of YOE, full-stack DS at a startup. Timeline: Cold apply → recruiter reach out: 9 weeks Reach out → phone screen: 3 weeks Phone screen → onsite: 4 weeks (got the notice in the third week) Onsite → result: 5 weeks (I heard some people waited even longer) I'd long heard that Microsoft interviews move slowly, and now I've experienced it myself. Phone screen: resume walkthro…

RejectedOnsite0
MicrosoftMachine Learning Engineer
Jun 2026

LeetCode Rounds Then a RAG System Design

Round 1 The first round was a classic array-processing problem: LeetCode 56 (Merge Intervals). Overall it wasn't too hard — mostly testing fundamentals. The core idea is to sort by interval start, then walk through and merge the overlapping ranges. What actually separates candidates is how "Pythonic" the code is and how you handle edge cases — things like sorting elegantly with a lambda, or handl…

Onsite0
MicrosoftSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Jun 2026

CoreAI Loop With an AI Coding Round, After 11 Loops in a Year

A bit of background first. I spent 6 years at a big fintech, and most of that time went into building an internal experimentation platform. I want to be honest about the niche angle, because I think people assume the opposite of what happened. I never planned to specialize. I sent applications everywhere, senior backend roles, anything that looked decent. Only when I reviewed my own funnel at the…

OfferOnsite0
MicrosoftSoftware EngineerSenior+
Jun 2026

A Two-Day Virtual Onsite with a Strange AI Fluency Round

A premium story — unlock it to read the full loop.

RejectedOnsitePremium0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience: A demanding opening test

Before I could speak with a recruiter, I had to clear a technical test. It was challenging enough to feel like a real filter and about what I expected from Microsoft. Once I passed that hurdle, the rest of the process moved forward, but I did not receive an offer. The test set the tone immediately, and the bar felt consistent with Microsoft's reputation. My main takeaway was that proving I could…

Technical Screen0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer Interview: Two SDE2 online assessment problems

I started with an online assessment for a Software Development Engineer 2 role. It had two DSA questions, one medium and one harder. I got full marks on every test case for the medium problem. I came close on the hard one, but it was not perfect. After the OA, I waited and tried to work out whether I might get a callback. I had no further detail from the process; the assessment result was the onl…

Online Assessment0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview: passed OA then decline

My process started with an OA for a role that had the same title but a different job code. I fully passed both OA questions, but there were still more rounds afterward. The first interview was 45 minutes, followed by a loop with three separate 45-minute rounds on different days. Even though I felt prepared and thought I had done well, the process ended without an offer. I waited for several month…

RejectedOnline Assessment0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer interview experience

I took a LeetCode-style test with three problems, then went through three interviews with different managers. Each manager interview ran for about an hour and combined a coding problem with behavioral questions. The format made it clear they were weighing both problem solving and how I described my thinking and experience. The test came first, and each manager conversation added a human layer tha…

Online Assessment0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience: LRU cache and C++ vector implementation

My take home coding work and later interviews were more system oriented than quick algorithm exercises. I worked on two DSA problems: an LRU cache with a higher level design angle, and a vector related implementation using arrays, pointer arithmetic, and heap allocation in C++. The interviewers were friendly and fun to talk with, which made it easier to think out loud during implementation. The s…

Take-home Project0
MicrosoftProduct Manager
Reported Jun 2026

Microsoft Product Manager recruiter screen, hiring manager, and big-data silence

After I applied, I was contacted for an initial screen. The recruiter part felt a little unstructured but not off-putting, more conversational than scripted. I was told that multiple candidates were being interviewed for the role, which made the process feel uphill from the start. I reached a hiring-manager round and focused mostly on big-data topics. Additional rounds were supposed to follow, bu…

No response0
MicrosoftSoftware Engineer
May 2026

Phone Screen, Three Onsites, and a Template Rejection

Locked — open it to unlock the full story with XP.

RejectedOnsiteXP0
MicrosoftMachine Learning Engineer
Apr 2026

Four Rounds on the Bing Team, No Offer

I applied to several MAI positions on the site, and then a Bing team doing image search got back to me and said they wanted to schedule an interview. First, let me complain about the HR — from the email address, it's clearly outsourced, and they never reply. For example, I asked what kind of interview this was, what it would cover, how many rounds — no idea at all. They'd only show up two or thre…

RejectedOnsite0

What are interview experiences?

An interview experience is a candidate's own account of a hiring loop — not a question bank entry. It tells you the shape of the process: how many rounds there were, what each round actually tested, how long the gaps between them ran, and what the recruiter said at the end. That context is the part a question list cannot give you.

How to read them

Weight recent write-ups more heavily — interview loops change, often within a year. Read several for the same company and role rather than one: a single account tells you what one interviewer asked, while five tell you what the bar is. Note the outcome badge too, since a rejection write-up usually explains the gap far more precisely than an offer one.

Share your own

Every published experience earns 50 XP, and each of the first 3 likes it receives in a day earns you 10 XP more. Likes must come from established accounts; like-for-like swaps and likes from your own second account are not paid. Write it while the details are fresh — the round order, the exact prompts, and how much time you were given are what the next reader needs.

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