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Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
About Microsoft
3.
Work Culture at Microsoft
3.1.
Financial and Retirement Benefits
3.2.
Employee Health and Wellness Benefits
3.3.
Other Microsoft Employee Advantages
4.
Required Skills for Microsoft
5.
What does Microsoft look for in a candidate?
5.1.
Behavioural Aspect
5.2.
Coding Aspect
5.3.
System Design Aspect
6.
Roles Hired by Microsoft
7.
Preparation Strategy
7.1.
Interview Process
8.
Resources for Preparation
8.1.
Interview Resources
8.2.
Coding Resources
8.3.
Aptitude Resources
8.4.
Requirement Engineering Resources
8.5.
Process Modelling Resources
8.6.
Other Technical Resources
9.
Tips from Coding Ninjas
9.1.
Interview Experiences
10.
Frequently Asked Questions
10.1.
What does Microsoft look for in a candidate?
10.2.
What are the qualifications required to get a job at Microsoft?
10.3.
How difficult is it to receive a Microsoft interview call?
10.4.
What are the various job opportunities available at Microsoft?
10.5.
What are the benefits of working for Microsoft?
11.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Microsoft Preparation Guide

Author Sneha Mallik
3 upvotes

Introduction

Most people today aspire to be successful professionals. Everyone is looking for a great job or a Multinational company that pays well and cares about its employees.

Microsoft Preparation Guide

Are you interested in getting a job at Microsoft and want to call yourself one among the Microsofties?

If yes, then you are at the right place. We will be providing you with a complete Microsoft preparation guide for grabbing this opportunity at Microsoft.

Choosing Microsoft

In this article, we will discuss the complete Microsoft Preparation Guide, which will include the eligibility criteria, exam syllabus, preparation strategy, the procedure to apply and the resources needed for this company.

Let’s first discuss a little bit about the company itself.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that provides computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

About Microsoft

Before going deeper into the company, consider some of the advantages of working here.

  • The Microsoft Office suite, Windows line operating systems, Edge and Internet Explorer, are among the company's most well-known software products.
     
  • The Microsoft Surface lineup of touchscreen personal computers and the Xbox video game consoles are among its ground-breaking hardware offerings.
     
  • In terms of Microsoft's ranking, it was ranked 14 in the 2022 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue; as of 2016, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue.
     
  • Along with Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta, it is one of the Big Five American information technology companies.
     

Microsoft provides equal employment opportunities. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment regardless of age, ancestry, colour, family or medical leave, gender identity or expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, race, religion, or any other characteristic protected by regulations, applicable laws, and ordinances.

Are you worried about making a place at Microsoft? Don't worry, Coding Ninja is here to assist you every step of the way.

Let us now talk about Microsoft in more detail.🤩

Work Culture at Microsoft

At Microsoft, employees are passionate about giving time, skill, and money to addressing the issue our world is facing. Here they try to empower every person on the planet to achieve more. Let us explore the various benefits of working with Microsoft.

Work Culture at Microsoft

Financial and Retirement Benefits

You will receive the following financial and retirement benefits as a Microsoft employee:

  • 401K plan
  • Retirement strategy
  • Plan for employee stock purchases
  • Matching charitable gifts
  • Bonus based on performance
  • Huge stock bonus
  • Plan for equity compensation
  • Add-on workers' compensation

Employee Health and Wellness Benefits

Microsoft offers two kinds of health plans: standard plans and Health Savings Accounts (HSA). The latter strategically assist employees in saving for future healthcare costs while also lowering their yearly tax bill by thousands of dollars.

More Microsoft employee benefits in the health and wellness category include:

  • Life Insurance
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Insurance on Vision
  • Insurance for accidental death and dismemberment
  • Treatment for mental healthcare
  • Sick leave (12 days)
  • Maternity leave (26 weeks)
  • Fitness classes are available on-site (yoga, Zumba, etc.)
  • On-site medical care
  • PTO (paid time-off; 15 days for years 0-6, 20 days for years 7-12, and 25 days for 13 years or more)
  • Paternity Leave (12 weeks)
  • Sick leave for family

Other Microsoft Employee Advantages

Among the various Microsoft employee benefits are:

  • Insurance for pets
  • Housing allowance
  • Assistance with Adoption
  • Insurance for business travel
  • Fertility Support
  • Plan for repaying student loans
  • Employee savings
  • Reimbursement of Tuition fees
     

The bottom line is that there is a reason people work so hard to get into Microsoft and other top-tier companies. They provide an unparalleled lifestyle, comfort, and security. So use this long list of Microsoft employee benefits to motivate you to improve your preparation.

Required Skills for Microsoft

Required Skills for Microsoft

The skills required for an employee at Microsoft are:

  • Responsible and Detail-oriented
     
  • Logical thinking
     
  • Good presentation skills
     
  • Skill in understanding the emotional and cultural blockers
     
  • Highly efficient with ambiguity and complexity
     
  • Strategic thinking and acting operationally
     
  • Respond positively with eagerness to difficult tasks
     
  • The ability to effectively multitask and prioritize work
     
  • Self-starter with high motivation
     
  • Proven verbal and written communication skills
     
  • The candidate should be prepared to work any shift required by the project.
     
  • They must have skills in dealing with clients and managing incidents.
     
  • Ability to work independently and make quick decisions.
     
  • Must be enthusiastic, self-assured, and a good team player.

What does Microsoft look for in a candidate?

Microsoft look for in a candidate

What you'll need to land a job as a software engineer at a company like Microsoft is plenty of preparation in three major aspects of the interviewing process:

Behavioural Aspect

Behavioural Aspect

This refers to the non-technical skills that a software engineer should have. This includes abilities such as effective communication, some leadership, and a proclivity for working in groups.

Coding Aspect

Coding Aspect

Coding is primarily concerned with programming, data structures, and algorithms. This section of your technical interview will cover topics such as hash tables, linked lists, binary search trees, sorting algorithms, and bit manipulation.

System Design Aspect

System Design Aspect

Aspects of system design include defining the architecture, modules, interfaces, and data for a system to meet any given requirements. This section of the interview will include a lot of database questions as well as topics like load balancing, caching, CDNs(Content Delivery Network), redundancy and replication, database sharding, and API(Application Programming Interface) design.
 

Along with these aspects, you should also have the following abilities within you:

The Ability to Think

The Ability to Think

Problem-solving skills, abstract thinking, curiosity, and readiness to learn are all examples of general cognitive aptitude. Microsoft is looking for intelligent individuals who can think critically about themselves, their teams, and their initiatives.
 

Leadership Skills

Leadership Skills

Candidates with emergent leadership skills are hired by Microsoft. Leadership, according to Microsoft, is the ability to step in and out of challenging situations as needed while encouraging ethics and safety. Microsoft also looks for those that encourage others to self-organize and communicate openly.
 

Let us now discuss what the interviewer will be looking for in a candidate:

Interview process

  • Raw/Natural intelligence
  • Ability to solve problems and deal with ambiguity
  • Thinking procedure
  • Suitable fit for the company
     

Demonstrate your ability to deal with ambiguity. When given a technical problem, do not dive in headfirst; this is not a timed test. Take a moment to consider the issue. Inquire for clarification. Consider edge cases. Make them clear. Consider the problem in its entirety before developing a solution. Coding is actually quite simple. Coding is the final step in which you describe how you solved a problem. Coding is not the solution to the problem.

Confused about how only coding is not the solution to the problem?

Confused

To simplify, consider the following factors:

  • Ask for clarification of the problem given if needed. As an SDE at Microsoft, you will have a lot of freedom, and many tasks will be delegated to you without anyone looking over your shoulder. Interviewers want to know that you have a systematic approach to problem-solving.
     
  • Create a solution. Use whatever process you have available. Some people enjoy drawing. Some people create pseudo-code. Some people begin with a test-driven design. Whatever method you use, create a design before writing code.
     
  • Test your design. Here you’ll be needed to test your design to know if your curated design works fine or not.
     
  • Now write down your code. Coding is not the way to solve a problem. It is how you put the solution into action. You can't code a solution if you don't have one to begin with.
     
  • Test your code as the final step.
     

You can also start practicing Microsoft Interview Questions to achieve your goal.

Roles Hired by Microsoft

Roles Hired by Microsoft

Look into the various job roles available at Microsoft, which have been curated by us in the Microsoft preparation guide:

🍁 Software Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Software Engineer 2 at Microsoft

🍁 Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Data and Applied Scientist at Microsoft

🍁 Data and Applied Scientist Manager at Microsoft

🍁 Service Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Security Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft

🍁 Research SDE at Microsoft

🍁 Design Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Product Designer at Microsoft

🍁 Quality Assurance Engineer at Microsoft

🍁 Business Analytics Specialist at Microsoft

🍁 Product Manager at Microsoft

🍁 Other Roles at Microsoft

Job roles at Microsoft

You can look at the eligibility criteria for Microsoft here. Check this for Microsoft Careers.

Preparation Strategy

Let us discuss the process and what preparation strategies we can follow to fetch a job at Microsoft.

Interview Preparation

First of all, look at some necessary documents that an individual is asked for in an interview: 

  • Recent Updates to Resume.
  • Photocopies in both black and white and in colour.

Documents Ready

  • Academic certificates from the 10th grade through graduation and post-graduation.
  • Id proofs (voter id, Adhaar card, Pan card, ration card).

Keep these documents handy!!

Interview Process

The interview process for Microsoft consists of various types of questions, from technical to behavioural.

Make a prioritized list of things you need to study.

 

🔔 Round 1 includes resume based shortlisting for having a good resume is the first and vital step for selection.
 

🔔 Round 2 includes coding/programming, core subjects and aptitude questions.
[Note: There can be 1-2 technical rounds.]

For this, you can refer to the links given below:

To become an expert at Coding Ninjas Studio, explore it here.

Also, check out the articles on: 

🔔 Round 3 is a personal interview round which can be in two or more divisions. Questions asked during these interviews are from your resume and can be from other topics like aptitude, programming, and algorithms.

Also, prepare yourself with attractive answers to the below-mentioned questions for HR (Human Resource) rounds:

  • What is Microsoft?
  • Why is Microsoft your choice?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • What motivates you to work more?
  • What is your biggest weakness and strength?
     

You can refer to the list of HR interview questions on Coding ninjas

While giving your interview, just be honest and give answers calmly and confidently.

Resources for Preparation

Here are the resources to help you prepare for your recruitment exam and interview at Microsoft.

Coding Ninjas

Interview Resources

Coding Resources

Aptitude Resources

Requirement Engineering Resources

Process Modelling Resources

Other Technical Resources

Refer to this video to go through the strategies to crack Microsoft and get a job at your dream company.

Microsoft, founded by Bill Gate, is a well-known Tech Giant. Want to know how Bill Gates’ made this possible? Read on to know what is the secret to Bill Gates' success.
Also, read this Microsoft Preparation Guide for Interview with the help of our Experts to hold a firm grip on the procedure you’ll encounter in interviews.

Tips from Coding Ninjas

  • Begin with asking recent college graduates/Alumni to learn more about the process and company before trying to obtain the time of a senior professional. Don’t hesitate to ask.
     
  • Inquire with your contacts about what the company likes to hire, but especially what they dislike about the job. Find out what questions are asked in interviews. Be proactive and communicate.
     
  • Conduct as many informational interviews as you can to learn about the specifics of the job from those who work at the firm or who interned there.
     
  • Learn everything you can about the team, the deals they work on, and the firm.
     
  • If you are one of the few who gets an interview call for the internship, prepare for it as if it were a final exam.
     
  • Read everything you can about the company, its strategy, its leadership, and so on.
     
  • Finally, prepare a list of thoughtful questions to ask during the interviews. In general, you will have 5 - 10 minutes to ask questions at the end of the interview.
     
  • You will be dinged if you do not have a few intelligent questions to ask.
     
  • Don't sell yourself as a product. Please pay close attention to what is being asked and explain how you're there to learn, assist, and do whatever it takes to help the team win.
     
  • The application procedure is extremely competitive. You must stand out. Being prepared for interviews is the best way to succeed.

Interview Experiences

The placement season is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and how to react in a variety of obnoxious situations. Most of you are currently in a similar stage, brushing up on your DS Algo skills, following common test patterns, and preparing your resumes.

Interview Experiences

Most of your dream companies will have similar technical tests, but their interview processes and the types of candidates they seek will differ significantly. You can read placement experiences of Coding Ninjas’ students who were placed in Microsoft to get a sense of what you're getting into and how you can direct your energy towards your dream company.

Learn about Suryansh Gupta: A CSE novice who bagged a PPO at Microsoft.
Look for more Microsoft interview experiences here.
 

Refer to this video to go through the roadmap to get into product-based companies like Microsoft.

We wish you the best of luck in your interview selection and hope that the Microsoft preparation guide has been of great assistance to you.🤗 


Get detailed information about FAANG companies here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Microsoft look for in a candidate?

Microsoft looks for candidates from a variety of backgrounds who can bring something unique to the table. Across the 18 core culture metrics, Microsoft is rated an A- by the 3336 employees that have left culture ratings. Females score Microsoft's company culture slightly higher than males, with females rating the overall culture 76/100.

What are the qualifications required to get a job at Microsoft?

B.E/ B.Tech/ M.E/ M.Tech/ M.S students are eligible to apply. No backlog at the time of applying.

How difficult is it to receive a Microsoft interview call?

It is easy to get into Microsoft if you are well prepared with your technical and soft skills. You also need an eye-catching resume to get shortlisted in the resume screening round.  

What are the various job opportunities available at Microsoft?

Software Engineer, Data and Applied Scientist, Service Engineer, Security Engineer, Cloud Solutions Architect, Research SDE, Design Engineer, Product Designer, Quality Assurance Engineer, Business Analytics Specialist, Product Manager are some of the various types of job opportunities available at Microsoft.

What are the benefits of working for Microsoft?

Microsoft offers a variety of scholarship programs, internships, and full-time positions to help you advance in your career. At Microsoft, it is well understood that having a diverse workforce, including those with disabilities, is critical to achieving the goal of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve greater success.

Conclusion

In this article, we covered all about the Microsoft preparation guide. We discussed the preparation strategy, skills and responsibilities, the procedure to apply and the resources needed for the same.

If you would like to learn more about the company and roles, check out our articles on-

You can also consider our Aptitude Course to give your career an edge over others.

Do upvote our blog to help other ninjas grow. 🥷✨

Thank you

Happy Learning, Ninja!

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