RejectedSWE-III (Senior Software Engineer) at Microsoft
- Difficulty
- Process took
- 1-2 Weeks
- Rounds
- 3
- Format
- Remote
- Applied via
- Referral
How it went
- I’d just come off a tough Google rejection, and then this. Rejection stings, but it isn’t the end—use it as fuel, learn from each round, and keep moving. Each process is a step forward, even if it doesn’t feel like it right away.
What they would tell you
- I’d just come off a tough Google rejection, and then this. Rejection stings, but it isn’t the end—use it as fuel, learn from each round, and keep moving. Each process is a step forward, even if it doesn’t feel like it right away.
How to prepare
- If you're getting ready for an interview at Microsoft, be sure to review key concepts like Graphs, Maps, the Sliding Window technique, and the basics of System Design.
Their background
After facing a tough rejection from Google, I was honestly feeling pretty low. But with some encouragement from friends and a genuine craving for a new challenge, I decided not to give up. I asked a friend at Microsoft for a referral, and that jumpstarted my next big interview chapter. My experience is mostly in backend systems and distributed computing.
Round by round
- 1
DSA60 min
20-25 min discussion about my work experience Classic Topological Sort
- 2
Technical Round60 min
The core of this round was a design task, implement a pod scheduler that assigns incoming pods to nodes given each node’s CPU/memory capacity and each pod’s resource requirements. The interviewer wanted a brute-force attempt first, so I started with a straightforward double loop. After establishing correctness, he encouraged optimization; I mentioned and discussed using a heap to efficiently schedule pods and resources. He seemed happy with both my OOP approach and the discussion on trade-offs. This round ended on a solid note.
- 3
Culture & Motivation50 min
This was all about soft skills and values, classic questions like "Why Microsoft?" and a deeper probe into my motivations and the decisions I’d made in my career. Thanks to recently prepping for Google’s “Googlyness” round, I was ready with stories about teamwork, adaptability, and growth mindset. The conversation flowed well, and every answer led to a probing follow-up, but I felt prepared and responded with confidence and honesty.
What came up
A candidate-reported account, lightly edited. Interview processes change by team and date.
Sources
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