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Interview experiences
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Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Four Rounds in One Day, Not Selected
The JD said the role is in Windows + Devices, with two teams, WSSI and AI Trust. The interviewer said the role mainly works on privacy and compatibility. There were 5 interviews in total: The first one was a CV + technical questions round, but I think they only asked about my resume and BQ. Then four rounds, all scheduled on the same day. Round 1: BQ + Coding Why Microsoft and why this role The t…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — HackerRank OA with Two Coding Problems, Then VO
Microsoft SWE II OA, HackerRank, two coding problems. I passed and moved on to the VO. [Questions] Q1: Given a string, look at the substrings whose length is in [minLength, maxLength] and whose number of distinct characters is <= maxUnique, and return the highest frequency among them. Similar to LC 1297. n goes up to 1e5, maxLength <= 26. Example: abcde, length 2 to 4, maxUnique unlimited, the an…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience: LRU cache and C++ vector implementation
My take home coding work and later interviews were more system oriented than quick algorithm exercises. I worked on two DSA problems: an LRU cache with a higher level design angle, and a vector related implementation using arrays, pointer arithmetic, and heap allocation in C++. The interviewers were friendly and fun to talk with, which made it easier to think out loud during implementation. The s…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Online Assessment, Knapsack DP Timeout Turned Binary Search
I think I probably failed. Two problems in 90 minutes, and right after layoffs they're still running a hiring event, which is honestly a dark joke. The role is general level 62. My first problem was labeled medium difficulty, and the second was said to be harder. But I used knapsack DP for the first problem and it timed out... I ended up rewriting it as binary search right at the wire. They claim…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Online Assessment with a Balanced-Window and Monotonic-Stack Problem
Q1 — problem You're given a permutation p of length n. For each k (1 ≤ k ≤ n), determine whether there's a contiguous subarray that is exactly a permutation of the numbers 1 through k (order doesn't matter). If one exists, call k "balanced." The final output is a length-n binary string, where the k-th digit says whether k is balanced. Q1 — approach The key isn't to enumerate subarrays — it's to f…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Product Pages, Trackable Links, and Anonymous Users
Design a platform that can provide companies with the ability to create and showcase their product details through dedicated pages while also offering a shareable link feature for dissemination across various social media platforms like Facebook and more. Key Objectives: Companies can create/update product detailed page with images and description. The system can have a robust shareable link mech…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — SDE-2 Loop with an AI-Assisted Design Round and a Linux cp Deep Dive
Round 1 The first problem was a variant of Longest Repeating Character Replacement. We discussed both the brute-force and the optimal solution in the interview, and I implemented it. The second problem was a Medium-difficulty tree traversal question. We also discussed some basic DSA concepts. Round 2 Design a notification system for Windows that lets different applications generate and display no…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Sharding Embeddings and Language-Model Outputs
The author describes a Microsoft AI infrastructure virtual-onsite discussion centered on distributing large embedding tables and language-model output layers across GPUs. The interview compared splitting by vocabulary entries with splitting by hidden dimensions, asking how each choice affects memory use, communication, and connections to later computation. Follow-ups examined routing token lookup…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Two Renamed LeetCode Problems in a 75-Minute OA
Both questions were renamed versions of existing LeetCode problems. Neither was particularly difficult overall; if you're quick with implementation and edge cases, you can finish within 30 minutes: Q1: Count Binary Substrings LeetCode problem: LC 696, Count Binary Substrings (Easy). Topics: Two pointers / counting adjacent runs, or run-length encoding. Approach: Count the lengths of consecutive r…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: HackerRank queue with two stacks
My Microsoft process began with a HackerRank online assessment. After that came three live coding rounds on HackerRank, each with some behavioral questions mixed in. The behavioral questions were direct: why Microsoft, a time I failed, and how I learn a new skill. For coding, I had problems such as building a queue with two stacks and filtering an array efficiently. They also asked about data str…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: nerves on an easy opening question
My experience began with an initial screening round that felt generally easy. I got nervous early and bottled up on the first easy question, which caught me off guard because the overall vibe did not match how tense I felt inside. The process stayed consistent with that: the first stage was meant to be approachable and did not seem designed to trick me. Still, I learned that an easy question can…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: passed OA then decline
My process started with an OA for a role that had the same title but a different job code. I fully passed both OA questions, but there were still more rounds afterward. The first interview was 45 minutes, followed by a loop with three separate 45-minute rounds on different days. Even though I felt prepared and thought I had done well, the process ended without an offer. I waited for several month…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: quick take-home follow-up and manager interviews
I heard back quickly after applying and again after the take-home step. Then I went straight into three interviews, all with managers. The overall vibe was professional and easy to talk to. The conversations felt thoughtful instead of stressful. It seemed they wanted to understand my work and how I communicated, and I left each session feeling that I had covered the points they were listening for…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: respectful manager and technical rounds
I had two Microsoft interviews: one with the hiring manager and one technical interview. Both were respectful and kind, which made the process less stressful than the usual hiring loop. The recruiter was responsive, so the wait did not drag on. The manager conversation was professional and supportive, and the technical interview had the same tone. It felt like a discussion rather than a harsh cro…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: story-based medium-hard rounds
After clearing the OA, I had three technical rounds. The questions were story-based and ranged from medium to hard. Not every interviewer required me to fully execute code; some were more interested in whether I could explain an approach clearly. The interviews were demanding because I had to stay precise about both the algorithm and my reasoning while the conversation moved quickly. I was trying…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer interview: three 90-minute loop interviews
An HR call set up a packed loop day with three interviews, each 90 minutes long. The first two were live coding rounds with LeetCode-medium problems and a strong emphasis on clean code. The third was a behavioral interview with the department manager. The 90-minute blocks made the day longer than a typical loop and required sustained focus across coding clarity and later communication. I did not…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview: Two SDE2 online assessment problems
I started with an online assessment for a Software Development Engineer 2 role. It had two DSA questions, one medium and one harder. I got full marks on every test case for the medium problem. I came close on the hard one, but it was not perfect. After the OA, I waited and tried to work out whether I might get a callback. I had no further detail from the process; the assessment result was the onl…
Interview experiences · Microsoft
Microsoft Software Engineer long interview timeline experience
The most surprising part of my Microsoft process was its length. It took at least two months from beginning to end: about one month of interviews, then another month waiting for the decision. There were multiple rounds assessing different skills. Interviewers gave hints, and I had to keep track of them and adjust my approach while time was running. I did not receive an offer. The month of uncerta…
Interview experiences · MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy Software Engineer interview: office start and virtual rounds
The first round was face to face in the office, which gave it a different feel from the later virtual interviews. The technical questions stayed moderately difficult, leaning on solid foundations and scenario-based reasoning instead of obscure edge cases. I had a timed assessment before the technical discussions, then technical conversations, more meetings with a leadership and management perspec…
Interview experiences · Millennium
Millennium Intern Software Engineer Interview Experience — C++ Concepts After Earlier Tests
The author reports passing an online assessment and a cognitive test for a Millennium software engineering internship, then being rejected in the first virtual-onsite round. That interview involved little coding. Instead, the interviewer examined the resume closely, asking about projects and their difficult components. Technical discussion focused heavily on C++ concurrency, including mutexes and…
Interview experiences · Milwaukee Tool
Milwaukee Tool Software Engineer Interview Experience: one manager conversation and no follow-up
I had one interview, a conversation with an engineering manager about the role and where I would fit. It went well enough that they said they would reach out to continue the process, but I never heard anything after that. I did not follow up because I had already decided I was not very interested in continuing. The experience felt unfinished, as if I had been left mid-stream instead of formally r…
Interview experiences · Mirakl
Mirakl Account Executive Interview Experience: AI video, HR, manager, and team fit
The process began in an unexpected way: my first step was a video interview with an AI. It served as an early check on whether my motivations made sense and whether my story was coherent. I then had a more traditional HR qualification conversation about my profile and skills. Next I spoke with my future manager in a more strategic discussion. We covered my ability to build automation systems and…
Interview experiences · Mirakl
Mirakl Account Executive interview: peer behavioral rounds and case study
I made contact through LinkedIn, then had an initial conversation with the recruiter and a meeting with my potential manager. The process moved into peer interviews focused heavily on behavioral STAR-style questions about how I had handled situations in the past. Those rounds felt structured and values-oriented. I left each peer interview thinking the panel was trying to understand both my experi…
Interview experiences · Mistral AI
Mistral AI Software Engineer Interview Experience — ML Fundamentals for a Research Role
The author reports an unsuccessful interview for a research-engineering role at Mistral. After an introduction to the team, the applicant spent several minutes discussing relevant background and projects. The interview then moved through direct questions about model parallelism, mixtures of experts, normalization, diffusion, optimization, preference-based training, and keeping GPUs supplied with…