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 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft in Mar 2010
Interview
Applied online through microsoft website . Received an email for phone interview.
The overall interview experience was average. Waiting for the result
Why SDE
Tell me about a project in which you played a key role
Design question
Tell me about a software you like
The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Jan 2008
Interview
It was on campus interview. 5 rounds total, including 2 written. Main focus was algorithms, data structures and programming. You also need to have a strong hold of how to determine complexity of algorithms. Most interview questions were like you were given a problem - you had to propose a solution - write algorithm, determine complexity and then code it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I don't remember clearly. All the questions were based on algorithms and programming.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Jan 2008
Interview
Microsoft has smart engineers and they want to work with other smart engineers. They mainly test your ability to design clever algorithms on a whiteboard under pressure. When you are writing up your answer the key is to just keep talking, tell them what you are thinking, Even if you don't have the answer yet just keep talking to let them see your process. As long as you can do some basic coding on the whiteboard and show them that you have an actual thought process behind it you should be ok.