Cracking Microsoft’s Onsite Coder Class Interviews: Insights from Four Rounds

microsoft | Software Engineer | Interview Experience

Interview Date: Not specified
Result: Not specified
Difficulty: Not specified

Interview Process

The interview process consisted of four rounds. The first round focused on coding, specifically related to Azure Resource Groups. The second round was a system design interview where I was tasked with designing a resource change database that processes changes, generates notifications, and queries differences based on those notifications. The third round involved another coding session, where I discussed a rate limiter and how to handle 100,000 queries per second. The final round was also a system design interview, where I was asked to design a RESTful API for handling JSON files.

Technical Questions

  • Coding: Azure Resource Group related questions
  • System Design:
    • Design a resource change database
    • Design a rate limiter for 100K queries per second
    • Design a RESTful API for JSON files

Tips & Insights

I felt that my coding skills were adequate, but I struggled with the system design questions. It’s important to prepare thoroughly for both aspects. Additionally, I noticed that all four interviewers were from the same team, which may indicate a strong team dynamic but also raised some concerns for me.