Microsoft Software Development Engineer (SDE1) interview questions
based on 5 ratings - Updated Mar 18, 2026
Difficultinterview difficulty
Very positiveinterview experience
How others got an interview
67%
Campus Recruiting
Campus Recruiting
33%
Applied online
Applied online
Interview search
5 interviews
Microsoft interviews FAQs
Software Development Engineer (SDE1) applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 66.3% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Development Engineer (SDE1) roles take an average of 1 day to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 30 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Software Development Engineer (SDE1) according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 33%
Skills test: 33%
Personality test: 33%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
* 4 rounds in the loop interview
* 3 technical rounds:
1. Product Lifecycle
2. Algorithm design and Implementation -> Leetcode Medium -> String
3. Coding exercise -> Leetcode Medium -> Arrays
* Last round: Hiring Manager
[Note: The interviews were semi-formal. The interview feels like a conversation more than an assessment.]
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe the time when you had to defend your decision. How? Were you successful?
First they sent me Hacker Rank Online assessment. Online assessment has 2 questions. 1 hard DP and 1 medium intervals problems. Followed by 3 rounds interviews. Each round they asked dsa and behavioral. Topics - BFS, Heaps, Arrays.
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA) in Apr 2024
Interview
4 hr interview toughest one is system design where u need to design a psuedo code for a given open ended question without acutal code and with 45 minutes and explain it also.
Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you