Microsoft | L63 | Senior Software Engineer | Selected

I started my journey after putting in my 2 months notice on May 26th, 2024, having received an offer from MasterCard. My initial goal was to join a decent organization and continue preparing for FAANGM/MAANGM companies over the next couple of years. On June 13th, 2024, I was pleasantly surprised to find an email informing me that my profile had been shortlisted for an interview at Microsoft, requesting me to appear for an online test within a few days. Despite my plea for a week's preparation time, they didn't budge. I felt I had little chance, having only solved about 150 LeetCode questions and a handful of design problems.

Online Assessment | Coding | 90 min

• Q1: A variation of the Buy-Sell Stocks with at most K transactions problem.
• Q2: Given a function calculateSum(str) that processes adjacent character pairs in a string to populate a count array and returns its sum. My task was to generate a string (max length 100) to maximize this returned sum, earning points based on the sum range (e.g., 80-100 for maximum points).

A day later, I received an email confirming I had cleared the OA and was invited for further interview rounds, all scheduled for a single day, giving me a week to prepare. Again, my request for more time was denied. To gear up for the 'loop day,' I completed NeetCode 150 and watched numerous HLD and LLD videos from YouTube.

Round 2: Algorithms & DS | 1hr

• After an introduction and discussion about my role and responsibilities, I faced a coding problem based on merging intervals. While I don't remember the specifics, I was asked to code the logic in a shared UI.
• We went past the 1-hour mark while I was coding, and the interviewer eventually asked me to stop and elaborate on the remaining code before concluding the interview.
• Verdict: Pass

Round 3: Algorithms & DS + Design | 1hr

• Following introductions, I was given a coding problem: Kth Largest Element of Two Sorted Arrays.
• I discussed multiple possible approaches and finalized an optimal solution using binary search with constant space. This time, I wrote the code and successfully ran it.
• Next, I was asked to design a job scheduler service that could queue user-submitted tasks and execute them, scaling up to millions of tasks daily.
• Despite being slightly tricky, I managed to present a satisfactory HLD and LLD after discussions with the interviewer.
• Verdict: Pass

Round 4: HLD & LLD | 1hr

• This round involved a deep dive into a couple of my past projects, where I was questioned extensively on database and service design choices. Given my experience as a Lead Engineer, having worked on projects from scratch, I was able to answer effectively.
• I was then asked to come up with the HLD and LLD for a 'Step Counter' service that included an incremental rewards program for users.
• I quickly created an acceptable high-level design and then detailed the APIs, database table design, and low-level classes, subclasses, and interfaces.
• Verdict: Pass

After these rounds, I was asked to appear for a Hiring Manager round on the same day.

Round 5: Hiring Manager | 1hr

• This round was conducted by a Principle Engineering Manager from Microsoft U.S., who had about 20 years of experience.
• I was asked complex questions about technical leadership, mentoring developers, and handling specific scenarios as a technical leader.
• The follow-up questions required me to think deeply about my understanding of technical lead responsibilities and the qualities needed to lead a team.
• Verdict: Pass

I believe that my experience working on projects from scratch and my ability to communicate my thoughts effectively were my core strengths and helped me immensely. The coding and design problems felt relatively straightforward, and the interviewers were often helpful, providing hints when I was on the right track. It's surreal to think I almost didn't appear for the interview, feeling I had no chance, especially with all rounds scheduled on the same day and minimal preparation time while working full-time. Sometimes, you just have to show up.

Having read on LeetCode that Microsoft recruiters often take a long time to provide feedback, I called the recruiter the very next day to request a quick update. She stopped me mid-sentence to inform me that my feedback was positive and an offer would be rolled out soon. I could barely believe it – a dream come true for someone who had always aspired to work at Microsoft. It's been a couple of weeks since I started working here, and the experience has been amazing.