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      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      19 Sept 2023
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Hyderābād
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Aug 2023

      Interview

      Microsoft conducts hiring drives and keeps multiple rounds on same day. Two rounds were kept on same day. I asked to keep third round on another day because of non-availability. This was for the data security team. First round was DSA round. It was basically to find connected components. I coded the entire solution using Union Find algorithm with Path compression and Union by rank. When I discussed the solution and coded it in 15-20 minutes, he was okay with the solution. He went through my code and started speaking rudely that I am looping through my code extra times which is unnecessary. I tried to tell him that I exit early as soon as I find the answer. He did not listen to me and later apologized when he realized that I had already done what he was adamantly mentioning. After this point, he already decided to reject me because he realized that he was wrong and it reflected in his behavior. We had 30 minutes left. I asked if he wishes to ask me a second question. But instead he utilized this time to be condescending towards me. At first, he asked me the complexity of my code which was optimal. Then he immediately interrupted to tell me that this is a textbook solution and he needs an alternate approach to this(multiple source shortest path). I told him why Union Find is better and he agreed but he still went on for 15 minutes, roaming in his own room with his wife in the background roaming as well while I listened. After he was done, I tried to be respectful and asked him if he is happy with my solution or if it is optimal. He explicitly mentioned more than twice that he is satisfied with my solution as it is optimal. We still had 10-12 minutes left and he opened the floor for any questions so we simply had a chat. Second round was with two interviewers. We discussed a bit on my experience and he tried to belittle my work experience. He proceeded to ask me a very poorly formed question. "Write a Get Api to fetch product details if you are passed a page number in the parameter". I clarified it further and he kept giving unhelpful answers, which were vague, conflicting and unnecessary. I understood that he is possibly looking for an LRU cache implementation. But when I told him the classic Dictionary+List approach, he rejected it. He could not understand how cache works at the OS level and his requirements kept changing. He came unprepared and did not know how to conduct interviews because he kept improvising and taking the interview in various directions instead of being clear in his expectations. To mask his poor skills in front of the senior engineer, he made a remark on me stating that I need to brush up on algorithms. This is after I already gave him the implementation of LRU cache and he is the one who rejected it. I understood that he is going to give a negative feedback. It was not even a tough implementation but he made the interview difficult. Recruiters ghosted. At last when they answered, they stated that I got No Hire for both rounds. I was not given any other feedback. I wanted to know why I was given No Hire in the first round because it looks like interviewers rejected because they wanted to reject. I spent my time to be insulted by Microsoft employees. The preparation that went behind these interviews led up to this outcome. As I did not expect this, I could not have known until I experienced it. In hindsight, it is better to be rejected by unprofessional managers than to work with them and regret it later as one spends half their time at workplace. I hold proof that I gave the right answer and also proof that the interviewer intentionally gave No Hire. I will expose this interviewer one day and with that, I will expose Microsoft and this Data Security team for prejudice during interviews.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      LRU cache LLD The Earliest Moment When Everyone Become Friends https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/the-earliest-moment-when-everyone-become-friends/
      1 Answer
      3

      Other Senior Software Engineer interview reviews for Microsoft

      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      30 May 2026
      Anonymous interview candidate
      San Jose, CA
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Microsoft (San Jose, CA)

      Interview

      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.
      Answer question

      Sr. Software Engineer Interview

      16 Apr 2026
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Los Angeles, CA
      No offer
      Positive experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Microsoft (Los Angeles, CA)

      Interview

      Round - Screening with hiring manager. Discussed about projects and 1 DSA (Med] Loop Rounds: Round 1 - DSA (Med) + projects discussion Round 2 - DSA (Hard) + Behavioral Round 3 - LLD + Behavioral Round 4 - LLD + Behavioral

      Software Engineer Senior Interview

      8 Apr 2026
      Anonymous interview candidate
      McLean, VA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Microsoft (McLean, VA)

      Interview

      Phone interview with hiring manager for 45 minutes primarily a tech interview. Focused on questions directly related to tech stack. Come prepared knowing design questions and how those conversations go.

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