Microsoft | SWE-II (L61/L62) | Onsite interview experience | Got Ghosted ❌

Microsoft Interview Experience – Software Engineer II (L61/L62) – Backend Role

I have 4+ years of Java backend - cloud native experience and currently work in a Tier-2 product-based company. This is my interview experience for the Software Engineer II role at Microsoft (Viva Engage team).

Initial Outreach

• Date: 15th February
• A recruiter from Microsoft contacted me about a backend role.
• The conversation was brief - I confirmed interest, and they mentioned I’d receive a link for an online coding test.
• No job description or further expectations were shared.

Online Assessment (OA)

• Platform: Not sure if it was CoderPad or HackerRank, but it was one of those.
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Number of questions: 2

Problem 1

• Topic: Shortest Path in Graph with Equal Weights
• Approach: Solved using BFS
• Result: All test cases passed

Problem 2

• Topic: Greedy / Brute-force based problem
• My brute-force approach passed around 60% of test cases.
• Couldn’t optimize the solution in time.

Result

I didn’t hear anything for 2 weeks, but on 26th February, the recruiter informed me that I had cleared the OA. The interviews were scheduled for 28th February - all on the same day, without my consent, either I attempt it or loose the opportunity. First two rounds were mandatory; the rest were eliminatory.

The recruiter didn’t share what to expect and was generally unhelpful and curt throughout the process.

Round 1: Technical (DSA + API Design) – 1 Hour

• Interviewer: Friendly and supportive
• Problem: Kth Largest Element in an Array – LeetCode
• Task: Write production-ready code as if designing an API (handle edge cases, exceptions, proper responses)
• We discussed:
  • Sorting-based approach
  • Min-heap
  • QuickSelect (only explained due to time constraints)
• Also discussed API design best practices

Self Rating: 5/5

Round 2: Technical (DSA + Project Discussion) – 1 Hour

• Started with questions about design choices in my current project
• Problem: Next Greater Element III – LeetCode
• My first code failed on a large test case
• After retrying with a new approach, I solved it
• This round was meant to have 2 problems, but we spent all the time on just one

Self Rating: 3.5/5

Round 3: System Design – 1 Hour+

• Topic: Design a Meeting Room Scheduler
• Interviewer: A Senior Principal Engineer - quite rude and impatient
• Initially unclear if the round was HLD or LLD - clarified it was HLD but also expected code
• We discussed:
  • High-level design
  • Database schema
  • Then moved to LLD and writing code
• Code was to be written in ~15 minutes, but I took longer due to nervousness
• I made some assumptions in the method design
• Overall, the interviewer didn’t seem satisfied, and the experience wasn’t positive

Rating: 2/5

Aftermath

Despite two good rounds, I didn’t receive any follow-up call or rejection email. It's been over 2 months, and I've heard nothing. I tried reaching the recruiter (a Careernet CW), but they didn’t respond. I chose not to follow up again.

Later, I was shortlisted by Google, and the experience with their recruiter was much better. I'll share that story in a separate post.