Data Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 3.8 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 75% positive. To compare, the company-average is 69.3% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Data Scientist roles take an average of 18 days to get hired, when considering 4 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 45 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Data Scientist according to 4 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 33%
IQ intelligence test: 17%
Other: 17%
One on one interview: 17%
Presentation: 17%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Bellevue, WA)
Interview
I had two phone screens with data scientists currently at Microsoft. I found the questions of average difficulty but after completing all the questions in both interviews I was not brought in for an onsite. I had the feeling that specific methods for answering the questions was desired.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Discuss how to randomly select a sample from a product user population.
Feeling thrilled to have accepted the offer, I look back on this interview process as both challenging and rewarding. It began with a technical round where I tackled a complex A/B testing design question, followed by a SQL query on user retention. The final stages included a system design discussion that had me sweating, but honestly, the system design section on PracHub prepared me well. Each step pushed my limits, but the culmination was definitely worth it, landing me a role at Microsoft.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Design an A/B test to measure the impact of a new ranking change in Bing, and explain how you would handle network interference between treatment and control users.
Write a SQL query that computes 7-day rolling user retention from a daily events table, then flags cohorts whose week-over-week retention dropped more than 10%.
Phone screen with HR/recruiter. Less than 10 mins. Very basic mostly about role fit and my background and resume. Did not hear back from them at all. Very unenthusiastic during the call
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderâbâd) in Feb 2026
Interview
Overall 3 rounds with 2 technical and 1 managerial. The 1st round was DS and ML heavy with some analytics. The 2 nd round was resume, SQL and causal /AB experimentation. The managerial round was resume related and some behavioural questions.