.webp)
Microsoft's interview process in India is one of the most consistently reported on across GeeksforGeeks, LeetCode Discuss, Roundz Substack, and Medium. The format is predictable. The questions are not always what candidates expect, particularly the AA round which many first-time Microsoft interviewees do not prepare for specifically.
This guide compiles real Microsoft interview experiences from SDE1 and SDE2 candidates in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. What each round actually looked like, what questions were asked, and what separated offers from rejections.
If you want to experience what a real Microsoft interview feels like before yours, Intervue.io connects you with engineers who have been through real Microsoft hiring rounds for one-on-one mock interviews. Visit intervue.io.
[[mock-interview-banner]]
The Microsoft Interview Process in India
The full Microsoft process for SDE roles runs 4 to 5 rounds after an online assessment. The average process duration is 18 days per Glassdoor data. Most rounds are 45 to 60 minutes. All rounds are eliminatory.
Phase 1: Online Assessment
Codility platform. 90 to 110 minutes. Two to three DSA problems. The difficulty runs easy to medium. Candidates need to solve at least 50% to progress. Code quality is assessed alongside correctness: the Codility interface records your approach.
From a verified account: "Round 1 - Online Assessment (OA) - 110 min. Two DSA questions." Another account confirmed "Codility test of 90 minutes comprising 3 coding questions. Required to solve 50% to reach the next round."
Phase 2: Technical Rounds (3 to 4 rounds)
The onsite or virtual loop includes DSA coding rounds, an LLD (Low-Level Design) round from SDE1 level, a system design HLD round for SDE2 and above, and an AA (As Appropriate) round which functions as Microsoft's bar raiser equivalent.
For SDE1: typically 3 technical rounds (DSA, LLD, and sometimes a combined LLD+HLD round) plus an AA round and a Hiring Manager round.
For SDE2: typically 3 to 4 technical rounds including dedicated system design, plus an AA round.
SDE1 Microsoft Interview Experience: Real Accounts
Account 1: SDE1 (L60), Hyderabad, Offer Received, Dec 2024 to Jan 2025
Background: Tier 3 college, 1.5 years of experience, current company startup. Reached out by Microsoft recruiter on LinkedIn.
Round 1 (OA, Dec 17): Two DSA problems on Codility. 110 minutes.
Round 2 (Technical DSA, Dec 20): Interviewer was chill, introduced himself, gave 50 minutes for a graph-based DSA question. Clean code expected.
Round 3 (Technical LLD + DSA, Dec 24): Soft-spoken interviewer. LLD component plus a second DSA problem. The LLD portion tested object-oriented design applied to a real-world scenario.
Round 4 (Technical LLD + HLD + DSA, Jan 8): The interviewer had 10 or more years of experience. More challenging than previous rounds. Combined all three skill areas: design, algorithms, and architecture.
Round 5 (Hiring Manager, Jan 12): The longest round at 110 minutes. Multiple behavioral questions, LLD discussion, and a DSA problem. The candidate described feeling most nervous before this round and barely sleeping the night before.
Offer received on June 13, four months after the interview. Multiple recruiter follow-ups during the wait period.
Key takeaway from this candidate: tier matters less than you think. Tier 3 college, 1.5 years experience, startup background, offer from Microsoft.
Account 2: SDE1, Hyderabad, GeeksforGeeks Account
1.5 years of experience, received call from recruiter through LinkedIn.
Round 1 (Codility OA, 90 min): Three coding questions. First: minimum number of parentheses to make a string valid (expected single traversal solution, TLE on brute force). Second: smallest substring occurring only once in a string. Third: matrix and DP problem, hard and time-consuming.
Round 2 (Technical Interview 1): Single coding problem on Codility: Given a BST, find two incorrectly swapped nodes. Expected brute force first then optimised. Also asked to design a URL shortener at a basic level. Interviewer helped with requirements and throughput calculation given the experience level.
Round 3 onwards: Solved using single traversal. Interviewer tested code against multiple test cases including corner cases.
Account 3: SDE1, Bengaluru, Very Positive Experience, Dec 2024
Applied online. Process took 4 weeks. Initial screening followed by technical interviews.
Round: Longest Increasing Subsequence with difference 1 was asked. System design: Design a URL shortening service like Bitly.
Key observation from this account: "Microsoft's interview process for SDE1 roles in India is fairly selective. Candidates reported having very good feelings for the interview process despite the selectivity."
[[mock-interview-banner]]
SDE2 Microsoft Interview Experience: Real Accounts
Account 1: SDE2 (L61), Hyderabad, Oct to Nov 2025, Offer Received
Background: 3 years of experience. Online mode. Process: OA then 3 technical rounds (each approximately 1 hour) then AA round (30 minutes).
All 3 technical rounds on same day.
Round 1: Core problem-solving and object-oriented design combined.
Round 2: Standard DSA round.
Round 3 (System Design HLD + LLD, 75 min): Design a Distributed LRU Cache. Required both HLD (diagrams, architecture decisions) and LLD (class design, interface definitions). Concluded with discussion about Microsoft team business problems and behavioral questions on collaboration, ownership, and impact.
AA Round (30 min): As Appropriate round with a senior leader. Mix of behavioral and light technical discussion.
Verdict: Selected as SE-II at Microsoft.
Account 2: SDE2 (L61), Hyderabad, 4 Rounds, Offer Received
Applied through referral. 4 rounds total.
Round 1: Two coding problems. Medium difficulty.
Round 2 (On Codility interface): Brief discussion about current role, responsibilities, and past experience before coding. Two coding problems. Clean, production-ready code expected. "Pseudo-code is not acceptable."
Round 3: Design questions with follow-up discussion. Performance and elegance of the design evaluated. "Be ready to walk through your design or logic under constraints of performance and elegance."
Round 4 (AA Round, Design): Deep dive into experience and project work first half. System design second half: Design Google Docs. Topics covered: API design and client-server interaction, database choice and schema design. The round felt similar to Amazon's LP-based interviews but with more technical flavour. "Be comprehensive without waiting for prompts. Show initiative and completeness in your design thought process."
Overall experience: "structured, fair, and well-managed. The tone across all rounds was collaborative rather than adversarial."
Account 3: SDE2 (L62), India, Dec 2025, Rejected
5 rounds. Good performance on most rounds. Rejected after struggling with the initial coding performance on a standard problem.
Key observation: "While I performed well in system design and managerial rounds, my initial coding performance on a standard problem hurt my candidacy."
This account highlights that Microsoft's hiring committee weighs all rounds together. A strong system design round cannot fully compensate for a weak coding round.
Account 4: SDE2 (L61/62), Hyderabad and Noida, Two Separate Processes
Two separate interview processes for the same candidate at different Microsoft locations.
Rejected from the Hyderabad process after struggling with system design and OS concepts. Successfully navigated the Noida process afterwards.
Key learning: Microsoft allows reapplication after a cooling period. OS concepts (processes, threads, memory management, scheduling) appear more commonly in Microsoft India system design discussions than at some other FAANG companies.
What the AA Round Actually Tests
The AA (As Appropriate) round is Microsoft's equivalent of a bar raiser, though it runs differently. It is conducted by a senior engineering leader from outside your immediate interview panel who evaluates whether you meet the bar across all dimensions.
From candidate accounts: the AA round mixes behavioral questions with technical discussion. The behavioral questions are not as formally structured as Amazon's LP framework but probe similar themes: ownership, impact, collaboration, and how you handle disagreement.
What separates strong AA round performances: candidates who have specific metrics for the impact of their work, can discuss their projects at depth when probed 3 to 4 levels down, and demonstrate genuine curiosity and collaborative instincts in how they talk about their experiences.
Weak AA round performances: generic "I am a team player" statements without specific examples, inability to discuss the technical decisions behind projects in depth, and answers that emphasise individual contribution without acknowledging team context.
[[mock-interview-banner]]
DSA Questions Reported in Microsoft India Interviews
Frequently reported in SDE1 rounds:Valid parentheses and variants. BST problems (finding incorrectly swapped nodes, LCA, level order traversal). Graph traversal (BFS and DFS). Sliding window and two-pointer problems. Linked list operations. Longest Increasing Subsequence variants. String manipulation including smallest unique substring.
Frequently reported in SDE2 rounds:Hard to medium-hard graph problems. Advanced tree problems. Decode String (recursive). Connect nodes at the same level. Merge K sorted linked lists. Overlapping intervals. Two medium problems with complexity optimisation expected.
From the Roundz Substack SDE2 account: "The round took place on the Codility interview interface. Two coding problems. Pseudo-code is not acceptable."
System Design Questions Reported in Microsoft India Interviews
Design a URL shortener (most commonly reported across SDE1 and SDE2). Design Google Docs. Design a Distributed LRU Cache. Design a scalable notification system. LLD for ride-sharing service components. Class design for parking lot systems.
The Microsoft India system design rounds combine HLD and LLD more often than pure FAANG companies like Google which separate them clearly. The Distributed LRU Cache question asked for both the architecture diagram and the class-level implementation.
OS concepts appear in system design discussions at Microsoft more than at other FAANG India companies. Process scheduling, memory management, and thread synchronisation questions come up, particularly for infrastructure and platform roles.
What Separates Microsoft Passes From Rejections
Based on aggregated candidate reports:
Passes prepared for all round types simultaneously. The SDE1 L60 offer (Account 1) came after preparing for DSA, LLD, HLD, and behavioral questions together, not sequentially. Candidates who only prepared LeetCode and then scrambled on LLD consistently underperform.
Passes wrote actual runnable code, not pseudocode. Multiple accounts explicitly flag this. Codility records your approach. Interviewers in technical rounds expect production-quality syntax, not sketched logic.
Passes handled the AA round with specific project depth. The Google Docs system design AA round (Account 2) was won by going comprehensive without waiting for prompts. Candidates who waited to be asked about each component performed below those who drove the discussion.
Rejections often happened at the coding stage despite good design performance. Account 3 is the clearest example. A strong system design round cannot compensate for a coding stumble. Microsoft evaluates all rounds independently.
How to Prepare for a Microsoft India Interview
For the OA: 30 to 50 LeetCode medium problems covering graphs, trees, strings, and DP. Practice on Codility if possible since the interface is different from LeetCode. Aim for clean code, not just working code.
For DSA rounds: Medium to hard LeetCode. Microsoft favours graph problems, BST problems, and string manipulation. Explain your approach before coding. Brute force then optimise is explicitly the right sequence at SDE1 level.
For LLD rounds: Practice designing class structures for real-world systems: parking lots, ride-sharing, library management, rate limiters. OOP principles and clean interface design matter. Pseudocode is not acceptable.
For system design (SDE2): Know HLD and LLD for the same system. Design URL shortener, Google Docs, Distributed LRU Cache, and notification systems to depth. Microsoft specifically combines HLD and LLD more than other FAANG companies.
For the AA round: Prepare specific metrics for every project on your resume. Know your projects at 4 to 5 levels of depth. Practice collaborative language: how you worked with others, how you resolved disagreements, how your work impacted the team.
At Intervue.io, Microsoft mock interviews are one-on-one with engineers who have been through real Microsoft India hiring rounds.
Visit intervue.io to book yours.
FAQs
How many rounds does a Microsoft SDE1 interview have in India? Typically 5 rounds: OA, 2 to 3 technical rounds (DSA, LLD, sometimes combined LLD+HLD), an AA round, and a Hiring Manager round. Each technical round is 45 to 60 minutes. The HM round can run up to 110 minutes.
What is the Microsoft AA round? The As Appropriate round is Microsoft's bar raiser equivalent. A senior leader from outside your interview panel evaluates whether you meet the overall bar. It combines behavioral questions with technical depth probing. Strong project knowledge with specific metrics and collaborative storytelling performs well.
Is system design required for Microsoft SDE1 in India? Basic system design discussion appears at SDE1 level, typically embedded within a coding or LLD round. A dedicated standalone HLD round becomes standard at SDE2. URL shortener design is the most commonly reported SDE1 system design question.
How long does the Microsoft interview process take in India? Average of 18 days per Glassdoor data. The OA to offer timeline can extend significantly in some cases: one verified account received an offer four months after the interview due to headcount approval delays. The interview itself typically completes within 3 to 4 weeks.
What coding platform does Microsoft use in India? Codility for both the OA and some technical rounds. Some rounds use the interviewer's shared screen or a basic code editor without an IDE. Pseudocode is not acceptable in any round.
How can I prepare for a Microsoft interview? Along with practising DSA, low-level design, system design, and behavioral questions, take a one-on-one mock interview on Intervue.io with an experienced engineer familiar with Microsoft's hiring process. Practise writing clean, runnable code, designing systems such as URL shorteners and distributed caches, and discussing your projects in depth. You'll get specific feedback on your problem-solving approach and communication before your actual interview.
