Sources checked 2026-08-10
A loop that mixes coding, a design or fundamentals conversation, and a behavioral read, with a final as-appropriate interviewer weighing the hire. Collaboration and growth mindset carry real weight.
3 of 5 stages you can practise here
Conversational phone or Teams call
A ~30-45 min shared-editor session over Teams
Four to five back-to-back ~1-hour interviews: 3-4 coding rounds plus 1-2 design rounds (design standard at SDE II and above), with behavioral questions woven throughout.
3 rounds you can practise
A STAR-driven conversation, often with your resume in hand, that also appears woven into coding rounds
A spoken, whiteboard-style discussion with no coding
A ~45-60 min live pair-programming round in a shared editor
Final interview with a senior leader (often a skip-level) to close doubts and sell the candidate; common but not universal, varies by org, level, and region.
Interviewers submit written hire/no-hire feedback; a debrief reconciles it, then offer and negotiation.
Built from what Microsoft publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
Overall hiring stages and official interview-prep framing.
Official mission statement and stated corporate values used in the behavioral round.
SDE ladder and internal level codes (SDE 59, SDE II 61, Senior SDE ~63/64, Principal up to 67).
Algorithm topic priorities and difficulty framing for the coding rounds; 403'd the bot but human-readable.
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.