Microsoft interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview
SDE - Intern
Microsoft
2 rounds | 4 Coding
problems
Selected Interview preparation journey
Journey
I got an interview for an internship at Microsoft. There were two interviews, each 75-80 minutes long. I was asked about the projects on my resume, core concepts of OS and DBMS, and DSA questions on graphs and dynamic programming.
Application story
I came across a program by Microsoft called Engage, which I applied for and got selected after passing a test that included questions on data structures. I performed well in the program and was given the opportunity to interview for an internship at Microsoft. I had prepared thoroughly for interviews during my on-campus internships and saw this as a chance to test my readiness. The interviews went very well, and I received the offer.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I was selected for this role because of my strong grasp of DSA core concepts in computer science and the quality of the projects I had completed independently. The fact that I had personally done the projects was crucial, as I was asked questions about them that could only be answered by someone who had firsthand experience.
Preparation
Duration: 5 months
Topics: DP, Graphs, Arrays, Trees, OS, DBMS, Object Oriented Programming
Tip 1: Consistency is key.
Tip 2: Practice different variations of a problem.
Tip 3: Practice by thinking out loud, as if you are explaining it to an interviewer.
Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: NA
Tip 1: Use strong action verbs.
Tip 2: Must have good projects.
Interview rounds
01
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration75 minutes
Interview date8 May 2021
Coding problem2
It was an afternoon interview, on teams, I was asked about my projects OOPS and DSA
1. OOPS
Basics of OOPS, how OOPS was used in my resume project, and how else I can apply it beyond what I have already done.
Problem approach
Tip 1: Do your project yourself.
Tip 2: Read OS basics thoroughly.
Tip 3:Be confident about the project.
2. Frog Jump
Easy
30m average time
60% success
0/40
Asked in companies
There is a frog on the '1st' step of an 'N' stairs long staircase. The frog wants to reach the 'Nth' stair. 'HEIGHT[i]' is the height of the '(i+1)th' stair.If Frog jumps from 'ith' to 'jth' stair, the energy lost in the jump is given by absolute value of ( HEIGHT[i-1] - HEIGHT[j-1] ). If the Frog is on 'ith' staircase, he can jump either to '(i+1)th' stair or to '(i+2)th' stair. Your task is to find the minimum total energy used by the frog to reach from '1st' stair to 'Nth' stair.
For Example
If the given ‘HEIGHT’ array is [10,20,30,10], the answer 20 as the frog can jump from 1st stair to 2nd stair (|20-10| = 10 energy lost) and then a jump from 2nd stair to last stair (|10-20| = 10 energy lost). So, the total energy lost is 20.
Problem approach
I gave a basic solution and then optimized it for the interviewer.
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration70 minutes
Interview date8 Jun 2021
Coding problem2
Evening call on teams.
1. DBMS
Basic questions from DBMS.
Problem approach
Tip 1: Thorough understanding of DBMS.
Tip 2: Joins are important.
2. Rotting Oranges
Moderate
20m average time
78% success
0/80
Asked in companies
You have been given a grid containing some oranges. Each cell of this grid has one of the three integers values:
Every second, any fresh orange that is adjacent(4-directionally) to a rotten orange becomes rotten.
Your task is to find out the minimum time after which no cell has a fresh orange. If it's impossible to rot all the fresh oranges then print -1.
Note:
1. The grid has 0-based indexing.
2. A rotten orange can affect the adjacent oranges 4 directionally i.e. Up, Down, Left, Right.
Problem approach
It started off as a puzzle and then once I had completed the puzzle I was asked a variation of the rotten oranges problem from the graph.
Here's your problem of the day 
Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company
Skill covered: Programming
How do you remove whitespace from the start of a string?
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