Microsoft Interview Experience | SDE 2 (L61/L62) | India | 2026
Summary
I received an offer for the Software Engineer II role at Microsoft after completing a Codility OA and four virtual onsite rounds that covered coding, low‑level design, high‑level design, and a senior‑manager interview.
Full Experience
Status: Offered
Role: Software Engineer II
Location: Bengaluru
Experience: 4+ years
It started with a recruiter reach‑out, followed by a Codility OA. The OA had two medium‑difficulty problems focusing on Arrays and Strings. Once cleared, I had 4 virtual onsite rounds.
Onsite Rounds
Round 1: DSA & Coding
- Focused on Graphs and Dynamic Programming. I was asked to find the shortest path in a weighted grid with some constraints.
- Key: They aren't just looking for the solution; they want to see clean code and how you handle edge cases.
Round 2: Low‑Level Design (LLD)
- Tasked with designing a Vending Machine or Parking Lot.
- We went deep into SOLID principles and which Design Patterns (like State or Strategy) would make the code most extensible.
Round 3: High‑Level Design (HLD)
- Designed a Distributed Key‑Value Store (like Redis).
- Spent a lot of time discussing data sharding, replication, and the trade‑offs between consistency and availability.
Round 4: HM / AA Round
- This was the "As Appropriate" round with a Senior Manager. It was a mix of architectural deep dives into my past projects and behavioral questions.
- They really look for a Growth Mindset and how you handle technical disagreements.
Microsoft really values candidates who can explain the why behind their technical choices. If you're prepping, focus on "Microsoft" tagged LC mediums and get your system design fundamentals solid.
Interview Questions (3)
Shortest Path in Weighted Grid with Constraints
Find the shortest path in a weighted grid while respecting given constraints. The problem was presented during the DSA & Coding round and required a graph‑based solution with careful handling of edge cases.
Low‑Level Design: Vending Machine / Parking Lot
Design either a Vending Machine or a Parking Lot system. Discuss class responsibilities, apply SOLID principles, and choose appropriate design patterns such as State or Strategy to make the code extensible and maintainable.
High‑Level Design: Distributed Key‑Value Store
Design a distributed key‑value store similar to Redis. Cover data sharding, replication strategies, and the trade‑offs between consistency and availability, as well as overall system architecture.