I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderâbâd) in Feb 2021
Interview
A generic job description shared.
Random set of interviewers who do not know for which role they are interviewing and interviewee background.
I was shocked to see Engineering Managerial drives conducted similar to campus placement drives.
A combination of contract recruiting staff and HR coordination made whole process even more painful.
Since it is the "Microsoft" I went ahead here is what followed:
I was able to clear the coding round. Interviewer is knowledgable and pleasant.
For the second round - Design round, they did not have interviewer ready. Hence they set some one up after taking a long time who dozed off during the interview. Biggest farce is he said he thoroughly enjoyed conversation :D
Could not make it to third round :)
I think Microsoft Recruiting need to review their strategy. When hiring experienced professionals, it is important specific job description and evaluation strategy needs to be planned not a generic one. This way they can help themselves and give a positive experience to candidates irrespective of the result.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Binary Search Tree Traversal, Count of Nodes, Elevator design
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Bengaluru) in Sep 2025
Interview
Was very random, and very bad. Disinterested interviewer. No clear pattern. Hiring manager kept on saying this is for Principal Engineer whereas I clearly applied for Principal Engineering Manager. Will definitely not recommend
The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Bengaluru)
Interview
Mix of coding and design questions. Total of 6 rounds including initial screen round. The whole process took around a month. Had a good experience till the hiring manager round. The HM didn’t bother to properly introduce. Was not clear on the scope of design question that was asked. Too vague. But overall the experience was good. The process took 1 month.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Standard leetcode easy to medium difficulty and design questions.