Microsoft Software Development Engineer Interview Experience Overview
Question Details
The interview process began approximately 20 days after completing the initial Online Assessment.
**
Round 1 DSA (HackerRank Live Coding)** This one-hour live session involved solving multiple questio
Full Details
The interview process began approximately 20 days after completing the initial Online Assessment.
**
Round 1 DSA (HackerRank Live Coding)** This one-hour live session involved solving multiple questions while the interviewer asked follow-up questions regarding the approach. *
Problem Statement: Two math/array-based problems. *
Solution: The first problem was solved using a brute force approach but failed a few hidden test cases. The second problem was successfully solved with an optimized solution.
**
Round 2 High-Level Design** This was an interactive discussion covering end-to-end design, including requirement gathering, trade-offs, and architecture diagrams. *
Problem Statement: A system design scenario based on Alex Xu Volume 1, modified with custom requirements.
**
Round 3 HLD and DSA (90 Minutes)** *
HLD Component: A design problem derived from Alex Xu Volume 1 with specific custom tweaks. *
DSA Component: A hard-level Dynamic Programming problem. *
Solution: Both the system design and the coding problem were completed successfully, with the code passing all test cases.
**
Round 4 Hiring Manager** This round was a conversational mix of technical and behavioral topics. It involved a deep dive into past projects, professional experience, specific technical discussions, and situational questions.
Result A request for document submission was received within a few hours of the final interview, followed by a formal offer a few days later.
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a microsoft interview for a swe role during the oa round reported in 2025.
It covers the following topics: Arrays, System Design, Dynamic Programming, Behavioral .
Difficulty rating: Hard