Everything you need to prepare for the Microsoft interview process. 25+ real questions covering behavioral, coding, and system design rounds, plus a core values readiness checker.
Microsoft evaluates candidates on their alignment with the company's core values, especially "growth mindset." Check off each value you have prepared a STAR story for.
Curated questions frequently asked in Microsoft interviews across all round types.
Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly to solve a problem.
Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with people outside your team.
Tell me about a time you received critical feedback. How did you respond?
Give an example of when you went above and beyond for a customer or user.
Describe a conflict with a teammate. How did you resolve it?
Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn and what would you do differently?
Give an example of a project where you had to make trade-offs between quality and speed.
Describe a time you championed an idea that others initially disagreed with.
Tell me about a time you helped someone else on your team grow or succeed.
Describe a project you are most proud of and why.
The Microsoft interview process is one of the most established in the tech industry. It typically includes a recruiter screen, a phone or virtual technical interview, and an onsite "loop" of 3-5 rounds. The final round, known as the "As Appropriate" (AA) interview, is conducted by a senior leader who has the authority to make the hiring decision.
Unlike some other big tech companies, Microsoft places heavy emphasis on "growth mindset". Interviewers want to see how you learn, adapt, and grow, not just what you already know. Showing vulnerability about past mistakes and genuine learning is valued more than projecting perfection.
Microsoft behavioral interview questions revolve around the company's core values, especially growth mindset, customer obsession, and collaboration ("One Microsoft"). The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is the best way to structure your answers.
Microsoft coding interviews focus on fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, and writing clean, correct code. Problems tend to be LeetCode easy to medium, occasionally hard for senior roles. Microsoft is known for asking tree and graph problems more frequently than some competitors.
For SDE II (L62) and above, at least one round is dedicated to system design. Microsoft loves questions that relate to their own products: Teams, OneDrive, Azure, Xbox, and Bing. Start by clarifying requirements and scale, sketch a high-level architecture, then deep-dive into specific components. Referencing Azure services (Cosmos DB, Azure Functions, Blob Storage, Service Bus) shows familiarity with the Microsoft ecosystem and is viewed favorably.
Explore interview guides for other top tech companies.