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Microsoft SDE2 interview experience
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Senior Software Engineer - Frontend | Okta | Bangalore
Microsoft SDE2 interview experience
Summary
I successfully interviewed for an SDE2 role at Microsoft and received an offer after a comprehensive interview process covering Data Structures & Algorithms, Low-Level Design, High-Level Design, and behavioral aspects.
Full Experience
I applied for the SDE-2 role at Microsoft through their career portal, and soon after, a recruiter reached out to schedule my interviews. All rounds were conducted on the same day.
Round 1: Data Structures & Algorithms
This round focused on my algorithmic skills. The first problem was quite similar to the LeetCode problem 'Number of Provinces'. I initially implemented a solution using Depth-First Search (DFS). The interviewer then challenged me to implement it using Union-Find as well and asked me to compare the time complexities of both approaches, which I successfully demonstrated. The verdict for this round was 'Hire' or 'Strong Hire'.
Round 2: Low-Level Design (LLD)
In this round, the task was to 'Design a Parking Lot'. I had to explain my design thoroughly and then proceed to implement about 95% of the code on the spot. A crucial follow-up question involved handling concurrency within the parking lot system. I proposed using pessimistic locking, explaining my preference even while acknowledging that most web applications typically employ optimistic locking. This round also concluded with a 'Hire' or 'Strong Hire' verdict.
Round 3: High-Level Design (HLD) + Managerial
The final round combined High-Level Design with managerial and behavioral questions. The main design problem was to 'Design a Rate Limiter'. While the initial problem statement seemed straightforward, the interviewer made it significantly more complicated and unique during our discussion, pushing me to think deeply. A technical follow-up question was about why Redis is so fast, beyond just being an in-memory store. I explained that its single-threaded nature combined with I/O multiplexing significantly contributes to its performance, and I believe I articulated this well. We also covered some non-technical, managerial questions. My verdict for this round was 'Hire'.
My background includes 4.5 years of experience, graduating from an Old IIT (Tier 1 college), and currently working at an average product-based firm. Overall, I received an offer and was selected for the role.
Interview Questions (3)
I was asked to design a parking lot system, explaining the design principles and implementing about 95% of the code.
The task was to design a rate limiter. The problem statement itself was simple, but the interviewer made it more complex and unique during the discussion.