Microsoft Senior Software Developer Engineer interview questions
based on 309 ratings - Updated Jun 16, 2026
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Senior Software Developer Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 67% positive. To compare, the company-average is 61.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Senior Software Developer Engineer roles take an average of 56 days to get hired, when considering 3 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 31 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Senior Software Developer Engineer according to 3 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 50%
One on one interview: 50%
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HR communication was one of the worst parts of this process. She contacted me after several weeks of silence and said we needed to schedule interviews within three days if I was available. After that, she forgot to share the preparation documents, even after I followed up.
The interviews mainly focused on low-level system discussions, with a few behavioral or casual chat questions. The final interview with the manager was one of the worst management interviews I have ever experienced. He spoke in a very top-down manner and repeatedly talked about his own background. He asked technical questions while sharing a presentation screen, and I did not write a single line of code during the entire process.
The technical questions were almost comical and extremely subjective. Overall, it was one of the most unprofessional and biased interview processes I have participated in.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA)
Interview
- During the full loop, along with LeetCode problems, focus was more on system design and non-functional requirements in design.
- Low-level as well as high-level system design questions were asked.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Sep 2025
Interview
4 different code screens. Primarily DSA with some system design. All relatively straightforward with twists. Wasn't expected to complete the entire problem in a few cases,but was expected to analyze different approaches and figure out an optimal solution.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe your past projects and the tradeoffs you made and why.