Microsoft Software Development Engineer interview questions
based on 1.2K ratings - Updated Jul 22, 2025
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Software Development Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 71.3% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Development Engineer roles take an average of 1 day to get hired, when considering 1 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 46 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Software Development Engineer according to 1 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 100%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Microsoft in Feb 2009
Interview
ful day interviews - 4rounds + 1ASAP
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Print all permutations of a string *using no extra memory\data structures* (pointer variables are ok)
+ after i solved that it became tougher - handle duplicates (E.g aaab permutation should not print duplicates)
I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft in Apr 2008
Interview
Usually, a normal interview process (through university) goes through the following process: career fair -> on campus interview -> on site / phone interview -> offer. My interview was strange, in the sense that I had to do two phone interviews without being offered an on campus interview. One interviewer requested that I also install a program, so that everything I type on my computer can be seen from his side, and asked me to write a program during a phone interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
There is a disk on a turn table. Half of it is black, and the other half is white. It is rotating in constant speed, but it's rotating fast so that you can't see whether it's going clockwise or counterclockwise. You also have a set of stationary sensors you can install anywhere which can tell whether the color of a spot has changed from black to white, or vice versa. What is the minimum number of sensors needed to find out which way the disk is rotating? What is the best, average, worst time to figure out the direction? If you use more sensors, can you improve the best, average, worst time? How can you accomplish that? If you are given only one sensor, how can you find out the direction, assuming you can change one constraint of the problem?
I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft in Jan 2008
Interview
Interview was mostly technical. Had to write solid code in the whiteboard. Coding skills, algorithmic expertise, and brainstorming quality is a must. I think Candidates are free to use any language, but I used c/c++ to write the code.
Three 1:1 interview, and then a final 1:1 with a group director level person. There was even an interview in the lunch time, called "lunch interview"..