SDE I at Microsoft

How it went

What they would tell you

How to prepare

Their background

Round by round

1. 1

   Screening Round60 min

   I was given a link to a collaborative editor no syntax highlighting, no autocomplete, just raw code writing. DSA Rate Limiter System Design a logger that can only print a certain number of messages per interval Used hashtable to solve this Given an array of integers representing the height of buildings, and a number of bricks and ladders, determine the farthest building you can reach if you can climb a building by either using a ladder or spending bricks (one brick = one height unit). https://takeuforward.org/plus/dsa/problems/longest-happy-prefix

   • Logger Rate Limiter
   • Longest happy prefix
2. 2

   Technical Interview60 min

   Onsite, Laptop with a coding platform. DSA 1 Maximum Subarray Sum With Exactly K Elements (a twist on the classic maximum subarray) Given an array of integers, find the maximum sum of a subarray containing exactly K elements. DSA 2: Palindrome Partitioning With Given Constraints Given a string, partition it into the minimum number of palindromic substrings, but with the constraint that each substring must have a certain minimum length. Able to solve both, interviewer was very sharp, asking follow-up like a rapid-fire round

   • Maximum Product Subarray in an Array
   • Palindrome partitioning II
3. 3

   System Design60 min

   Design a real-time messaging platform like WhatsApp. Key features:

   • One-on-one and group chats
   • Message ordering and delivery guarantees
   • Notification system for new messages
   • Message persistence and syncing across devices
   • Scaling for millions of users
4. 4

   Fitment Round60 min

   This was a relaxed, talkative round about my journey, my teamwork, and my motivations.

What came up