Software Developer 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 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 68.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA) in Dec 2016
Interview
Interview process was smooth. Initial screening test to evaluate the coding skills followed by onsite interviews. The initial screening test was an online coding test of 1 hour. Expectation was to write clean code and add comments.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
General Data-structure questions. In one round the expectation was to ask questions rather than just solving it.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Microsoft (Praga) in Nov 2016
Interview
The interview has three rounds, first is just a simple Skype pre-screening. It's not technical, it's just to get to know you a little bit and give you an opportunity to ask questions about the company and project. Then there is a one hour technical Skype interview. Apart from answering technical questions, you will write simple code pieces to a shared notepad. And if this goes well you get to the final round which longs four hours during which you meet four different people. Each will interview you for about 45 minutes, then you have a break before another one.
The people I've met were quite friendly and easy going. With each one I have written some code on white board. Typically, just one function or one data model that you were improving or modifying afterwards. You should think loud and be able to describe how you would test your code. Otherwise it wasn't difficult.
The feedback was very prompt after each round. I had the result the other day. Overall my experience is very positive.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Most of the questions were standard technical things. One interesting question was what should be changed if a client had an in-premise solution and decided to move it to the cloud.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Microsoft in Sep 2016
Interview
Got referred by a former employee. I had a phone call with one of the Microsoft Recruiters who asked about my projects and other technical question. The interviewer was just reading questions and writing my answers, and appeared not to be a techie. I was told I would have an answer 2-3 weeks after. Never heard back from them, even after 3 emails to 4 different people, so I gave up.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How many lines of C++ (approx) have you coded in your life ?