I applied online. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Microsoft (New York, NY) in Jan 2020
Interview
These are deeper technical rounds that go beyond basic coding. Expect complex data structure and algorithm questions that involve multiple steps or require optimization.
Questions often emphasize problem-solving under time constraints, requiring you to walk through your thought process out loud.
You might encounter system design questions (especially for higher-level roles) that test your knowledge of designing scalable and efficient systems. For instance, you may be asked to design a system for file storage, message processing, or real-time data streaming.
HR screening, one technical interview with the hiring manager then three interview loop which covered two system design and one dsa round.
System design was intensive and challenging.
It took them 5 weeks to come back with an offer. Background check was completed in a week, got joining date after 3 days.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design a system for a startup company that let users post various types of content and get a unique url which can be shared with others to access the content
Started with a recruiter phone call and a 30 minute phone call with the hiring manager to negotiate a remote role since the job was based in Seattle and the manager agreed. Following up with five rounds of virtual on site. Four of them are coding/design. One of them is behavioral mostly leetcode medium level questions which I finished and I was able to do all the follow up and answer the design and time complexity questions correctly after the interview got ghosted for a whole month and got an automatic rejection email.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Leet code medium level questions. DFS, BFS, sliding windows and greedy algorithm. Follow up, asking some design questions and the time complexity of the code.
