The Microsoft SWE Interview Guide
See how Microsoft runs its software engineer loop, from the recruiter call through the As Appropriate round that decides most offers. Then drill the real questions candidates report from recent loops, so nothing in the room is a surprise.
- Loop length: 2 to 4 weeks
- Expected difficulty: Easy to medium
- Online assessment: Codility (some roles)
- Final round: AA / senior leader
Microsoft levels & pay
- SDE (Level 59-60, Entry)
- SDE II (Level 61-62, Mid)
- Senior SDE (Level 63-64, Senior)
- Principal SDE (Level 65-67, Principal)
- Partner (Level 68-69, Partner)
- Distinguished (Level 70+, Fellow)
The Microsoft SWE interview, round by round
Recruiter screen (30 min · call)
The opening conversation. Your recruiter walks through your background, the role and team, the level you are being considered for, and your timeline. It is rarely technical, but it sets the level you interview at, and the level shapes how design-heavy the rest of the loop will be.
- Clarify the level and team. Microsoft is org-by-org, so which team and which level you are tracking toward changes what the loop tests, especially whether design shows up.
- Ask about the format. Some teams run an online assessment first, others jump straight to a phone screen; knowing which one you face lets you prepare the right thing.
- Know your timeline. Microsoft loops tend to move quickly once they start, so line up your prep before the recruiter schedules the onsite.
Online assessment or phone screen (~60-90 min · varies by team)
Depending on the team and role, this stage is either a timed coding assessment, often Codility-style, or a live phone screen with an engineer. Some teams use the assessment to filter at volume; others skip it entirely and open with a shared-editor coding conversation. Either way it is a real gate, not a warm-up.
- If it is an OA, correctness rules. The auto-graded assessment scores passing test cases and edge coverage, so handle the tricky inputs rather than chase a clever one-liner.
- If it is a phone screen, think out loud. A Microsoft engineer wants to hear you clarify the problem, narrate your approach, and reason through edge cases, not code in silence.
- Not every team uses an OA. Whether you get an assessment or a live screen depends on the org, so confirm the format with your recruiter and prepare accordingly.
The onsite loop (4 to 5 rounds · virtual or onsite)
The core evaluation: four to five back-to-back interviews, each about an hour. Expect coding on data structures and algorithms, a design round scaled to your level (a component design at mid, a fuller system design higher up), and behavioral woven through the rounds. Microsoft interviewers weight problem-solving and how you collaborate, not just whether the code compiles.
- Coding on data structures and algorithms. Clean, correct, readable solutions matter as much as optimality. The recurring themes are arrays and strings, hash maps, trees and recursion, graphs and BFS/DFS, and dynamic programming at the higher levels.
- A design round scaled to your level. Mid-level candidates often get a focused component or object-design problem; senior and above get a fuller system design. Walk the interviewer through your reasoning and trade-offs out loud.
- Behavioral throughout. Interviewers probe collaboration, how you handle feedback, and a growth-mindset attitude toward hard problems and past mistakes. Bring concrete stories about what you learned, not just what you shipped.
The As Appropriate (AA) round (45-60 min · senior leader)
Microsoft's signature step. A senior leader from outside your immediate team, the As Appropriate interviewer, joins the loop to set and hold the bar. Their read carries decisive weight, so this round effectively makes the final call. It usually blends a harder technical or design problem with a deeper conversation about how you think, collaborate, and grow.
- The AA interviewer is the bar-setter. They sit outside the hiring team on purpose, to keep the bar consistent, and their assessment weighs more heavily than any single other round.
- Expect breadth, not just code. AA rounds often widen out into design, judgement, and how you approach ambiguity, so be ready to reason well beyond a single algorithm.
- Consistency into the AA matters. A strong loop can still stall if the AA read is lukewarm, so treat this round as the one that pulls everything together.
Debrief and offer (Days to 2 weeks after)
Your interviewers, including the AA, share written feedback and meet to make the call. Microsoft weighs growth mindset and how you collaborate alongside raw coding, so the discussion is about the whole signal, not one standout round. When the loop aligns, the recruiter comes back with a level and an offer.
- Growth mindset is real signal. How you talked about mistakes, feedback, and learning shows up in the debrief, so it is not just filler around the coding.
- Collaboration counts alongside code. A candidate who reasons well with the interviewer often clears the bar over one who solves silently but rigidly.
- Decisions come quickly. Microsoft debriefs often resolve within days to a couple of weeks, though team-match or level calibration can add time.
How hard is the Microsoft interview?
Difficulty mix: 25% easy, 68% medium, 7% hard.
How to prepare
Build a steady coding rhythm (Weeks 1 to 4)
Code consistently across the month, focusing on the patterns Microsoft repeats: arrays and strings, hash maps, trees and recursion, and graph traversal. Most questions sit at easy-to-medium, so prioritize clean, correct, readable solutions over exotic tricks, and practice narrating your approach out loud.
Prepare growth-mindset behavioral stories (Weeks 1 to 2)
Draft these early. Write concrete stories about collaborating, handling feedback, and learning from a real mistake, the kind of signal Microsoft's culture leans on. Practice telling each in a couple of minutes, emphasizing what you learned and changed, not just the outcome.
Layer in design practice for your level (Weeks 2 to 3)
Once your coding is warm, add design scaled to the level you are targeting: object and component design for mid-level, fuller system design for senior and up. Work through several problems end to end, saying each decision and trade-off aloud and preparing for follow-ups.
Run full mock loops, including an AA-style round (Week 4)
In the final stretch, sit a few complete loops back to back so your focus holds across four or five interviews. Include a harder, broader mock to stand in for the As Appropriate round, where a senior interviewer stretches you beyond a single algorithm into design and judgement.
Recently asked
Implement an LFU cache
About Microsoft
Microsoft builds across a broad portfolio: the Azure cloud, Windows, the Office and Microsoft 365 productivity suite, developer platforms including GitHub, professional networking through LinkedIn, and gaming across Xbox. Engineering hires span cloud infrastructure, productivity, developer tools, security, AI, and consumer products, so the work an SWE does varies widely by org.
The company's culture centers on a growth mindset, the idea that ability grows through effort, learning, and collaboration rather than being fixed. That value shows up in how teams operate and how Microsoft describes the engineers it wants: people who learn in the open, work well with others, and improve over time more than pure lone-genius output.
Frequently asked
How many rounds is the Microsoft interview?
Usually a recruiter screen, then either an online assessment or a phone screen, followed by an onsite loop of four to five rounds, one of which is the As Appropriate (AA) round with a senior leader. Coding runs through the loop, with design and behavioral layered in by level.
What is the Microsoft As Appropriate (AA) round?
The AA round is Microsoft's final interview, led by a senior leader pulled from outside the immediate hiring team. Their job is to set and hold the bar, so their read weighs heavily and effectively decides the outcome. It usually mixes a harder technical or design problem with a deeper look at how you think and collaborate.
Does Microsoft have an online assessment?
Some teams do and some do not. Certain roles start with a timed, Codility-style coding assessment to filter at volume, while other orgs skip it and open with a live phone screen. Ask your recruiter which format your loop uses so you prepare the right thing.
How hard is the Microsoft SWE interview?
It leans easier than the toughest FAANG loops. Of the questions Karavine tracks, most sit at easy-to-medium, with only a small share rating hard. Clean, correct, readable code and clear reasoning matter more than squeezing out an exotic optimal solution.
What is the difference between Microsoft Level 63 and Level 65?
Level 63-64 is Senior SDE: you own designs, mentor others, and drive trade-offs beyond a single feature. Level 65-67 is Principal SDE, where the job shifts to architecture across teams and setting technical direction. The higher loop is far more design- and scope-focused and much lighter on raw coding.
Does Microsoft ask system design?
Yes, scaled to your level. Mid-level candidates often get a focused component or object-design problem, while senior and principal candidates get a fuller system design covering data models, scaling, and trade-offs. The design bar rises sharply from Senior SDE up.
Is Microsoft easier than Google or Meta?
For coding, many candidates find Microsoft's bar a bit more forgiving, with more emphasis on clean, correct solutions than on the hardest algorithmic puzzles. The culture is also often described as more collaborative than Meta or Amazon. That said, the AA round and the design bar at senior levels are genuinely demanding, so easier does not mean easy.
What is a growth mindset in Microsoft interviews?
Growth mindset is Microsoft's core cultural value: the belief that skills grow through effort, learning, and collaboration. In interviews it shows up in behavioral questions and in how you handle a problem you cannot immediately solve. Talking openly about mistakes, feedback, and what you learned is real signal, not filler.
What is the Microsoft Senior SDE salary?
Total compensation for a Senior SDE (Level 63-64) averages roughly in the mid-to-high $300k range per year, with a base near $190k plus significant RSU grants and refreshers. Microsoft bases tend to run lower than some peers, so stock and annual refreshers carry more of the package. Use the estimator above to model your own offer.
How long does the Microsoft interview process take?
Often two to four weeks from recruiter screen to the onsite, then days to a couple of weeks for the debrief and decision. Microsoft loops tend to move quickly once scheduled, though team-match or level calibration can add time.
Can I reapply to Microsoft after a rejection?
Yes. Microsoft generally asks candidates to wait around six months before reapplying to a similar role, and you can apply to a different team sooner. Use the gap to close the specific areas the loop flagged.
What coding languages can I use at Microsoft?
You can use whatever language you are strongest in, commonly C#, Java, C++, Python, or JavaScript. Interviewers care about clean, correct, readable code and clear reasoning far more than the specific language, so pick the one you can write fluently under time pressure.
What coding topics does Microsoft focus on?
Core data structures and algorithms: arrays and strings, hash maps, trees and recursion, graphs with BFS and DFS, and dynamic programming at the higher levels. Most questions land at easy-to-medium difficulty, with the occasional harder problem reserved for the AA round or senior loops.
Does the AA interviewer decide the offer?
Effectively, yes. Because the As Appropriate interviewer is a senior leader brought in to hold the bar, their assessment carries decisive weight in the debrief. A strong loop can still stall on a lukewarm AA read, which is why consistency all the way into that round matters.
How should I prepare for the Microsoft interview?
Build a steady coding rhythm on the patterns Microsoft repeats, prepare growth-mindset behavioral stories about collaboration and learning, practice design scaled to your target level, and run full mock loops including a harder AA-style round. Karavine's Microsoft pack is exactly this plan with worked solutions.
Microsoft interview questions on Karavine