Updated by Microsoft candidates
SWE Intern Interview Experience
It was basically graphs in the OA, then two back-to-back coding rounds where I didn't even run my code, just walked through an interval merge problem and a first-occurrence string question.
Interview process
It was a pretty standard Microsoft intern process for me. I started with an OA that had two medium LeetCode-style graph questions. After that I had two 45-minute interviews back to back on the same day with a 15-minute break. The live rounds were classic coding questions, one on merging concurrent intervals and one on finding the first occurrence of a word in a sentence. Nothing about it really surprised me because it was basically just a LeetCode-based interview.
- Online assessment
- Final round
Interview rounds
4 questions across 2 roundsOnline assessment
2 questionsOverview
I started with an OA that was just two LeetCode-style questions. Both of them were medium graph problems from what I remember.
Question types asked
Specific questions asked
Solve a medium graph problem.
I solved it in the timed OA, but I only remember that it was graph-based and medium difficulty.
Solve a second medium graph problem.
Same deal here. It was another medium graph question in the OA, but I don't remember the exact prompt anymore.
Final round
2 questionsOverview
After the OA, I had two 45-minute interviews back to back on the same day with a 15-minute break. Both rounds were pure coding with no behavioral at all. I didn't run my code. I just wrote it, walked through it, and talked about time and space complexity.
Question types asked
Specific questions asked
I wrote the solution directly in the editor and walked the interviewer through my logic. I didn't run the code, so the round was more about whether I could code it cleanly and explain the time and space complexity out loud.
I treated it like a straightforward string occurrence problem. Again, I just coded it, explained my walkthrough, and discussed time and space complexity without actually running anything.
Interview tips
I'd just prep broad LeetCode medium patterns and not assume the topic in the OA is what you'll get later. My OA was graphs, but the interviews were intervals and strings. I'd also practice writing code without running it, because I had to just code, walk through it, and explain time and space complexity out loud.
Company culture
The engineers I met were very open, and it felt supportive for someone interviewing for an early-career role. That part matched what I'd heard about Microsoft already. Compensation also never came up at any point in my process.
Get full access with a membership, or share your experience to try it free.
More Microsoft interview experiences
“In my binary tree round, I was not even leaning on BFS or DFS terminology, and they still liked my solution because I kept reasoning it out. That was the moment where Microsoft felt more about logical thinking than memorized interview patterns.”
“The so-called system design round totally threw me off. He was like, "let's code it out," and wanted me to build a file system with four use cases in 45 minutes, and then the recruiter just ghosted me for a month.”
See all 26 Microsoft Software Engineer interview experiences →
