Microsoft Interview Questions

Review this list of 229 Microsoft interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • +11

    "Clarification questions: What does an increase in usage mean? Microsoft wants to grow its market share in the browser segment Why do you want to increase the usage? Increase in IE usage would increase Bing advertising revenue Are you targeting any specific platforms to increase usage in? You tell me Are there any geo's of specific interest? worldwide Would it be fair to assume that the increase in usage is represented with an increase in the metrics - "Increase in no. of requ"

    P K. - "Clarification questions: What does an increase in usage mean? Microsoft wants to grow its market share in the browser segment Why do you want to increase the usage? Increase in IE usage would increase Bing advertising revenue Are you targeting any specific platforms to increase usage in? You tell me Are there any geo's of specific interest? worldwide Would it be fair to assume that the increase in usage is represented with an increase in the metrics - "Increase in no. of requ"See full answer

    Product Strategy
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +10

    "I will divide my answer in 2 parts: Process I use for managing risks in any Project I will explain a real life situation where a Risk occurred and how I managed it Process for Risk Management can be broken down into 3 parts: Risk Identification: Risk identification is a team effort and is an ongoing process that happens throughout the Project. Technical Risks are usually identified during design/build/testing stage. I maintain a Risk register document to capture all the risks identified"

    Saket S. - "I will divide my answer in 2 parts: Process I use for managing risks in any Project I will explain a real life situation where a Risk occurred and how I managed it Process for Risk Management can be broken down into 3 parts: Risk Identification: Risk identification is a team effort and is an ongoing process that happens throughout the Project. Technical Risks are usually identified during design/build/testing stage. I maintain a Risk register document to capture all the risks identified"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +3 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 

    "Sorted the array and stored the minimum difference in a variable and then traversed the array for the pairs having minimum difference"

    Aashka C. - "Sorted the array and stored the minimum difference in a variable and then traversed the array for the pairs having minimum difference"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • +10

    "Design an alarm clock for blind people Clarifying question: Does it have to be a physical product or software? Your call Do I need to think about the long-term implications of the product from a strategy perspective or a single product? single product What are the metrics this company will focus on? Engagement What industry are we in? (start-up, google/Amazon, etc) - Startup What do we mean by blind? - ppl who cannot see anything, or people who still have sense of"

    Manu G. - "Design an alarm clock for blind people Clarifying question: Does it have to be a physical product or software? Your call Do I need to think about the long-term implications of the product from a strategy perspective or a single product? single product What are the metrics this company will focus on? Engagement What industry are we in? (start-up, google/Amazon, etc) - Startup What do we mean by blind? - ppl who cannot see anything, or people who still have sense of"See full answer

    Product Design
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +1

    "A good answer is describing an experience where you either proposed something that was selected after discussion or an alternate approach was taken, or you disagreed with a decision and argued for something else, either successfully or not. A good answer would be you had cogent arguments, the decision went another way for some reason, and you then fully backed the decision (agree to disagree is another way of stating it). You did not take it personally and you fully committed to the deci"

    Mrinalini R. - "A good answer is describing an experience where you either proposed something that was selected after discussion or an alternate approach was taken, or you disagreed with a decision and argued for something else, either successfully or not. A good answer would be you had cogent arguments, the decision went another way for some reason, and you then fully backed the decision (agree to disagree is another way of stating it). You did not take it personally and you fully committed to the deci"See full answer

    Engineering Manager
    Behavioral
    +3 more
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  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +6

    "Let's imagine you want to open Google Maps, you type maps.google.com and hit Enter. Here is what happens: You type maps.google.com into the address bar of your browser. Browser completes the address, for example, maps.google.com → https://www.maps.google.com [Address decoding] → browser breaks down the URL into parts ‘https://’: protocol → how the browser should connect to the website Default is HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) which shows up as ‘ http:/"

    Jasmin R. - "Let's imagine you want to open Google Maps, you type maps.google.com and hit Enter. Here is what happens: You type maps.google.com into the address bar of your browser. Browser completes the address, for example, maps.google.com → https://www.maps.google.com [Address decoding] → browser breaks down the URL into parts ‘https://’: protocol → how the browser should connect to the website Default is HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) which shows up as ‘ http:/"See full answer

    Security
    Technical
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +2

    "Conflict is a GREAT opportunity to really demonstrate that you care about someone and, through effective conflict resolution, build stronger authentic relationships with the people you work with. When faced with conflict, I prioritize understanding all perspectives involved. I start by actively listening to the other parties: asking clarifying questions to pinpoint the source of the conflict, reflecting back what I'm hearing to make sure I understand them correctly, and ultimately identify"

    Zakery K. - "Conflict is a GREAT opportunity to really demonstrate that you care about someone and, through effective conflict resolution, build stronger authentic relationships with the people you work with. When faced with conflict, I prioritize understanding all perspectives involved. I start by actively listening to the other parties: asking clarifying questions to pinpoint the source of the conflict, reflecting back what I'm hearing to make sure I understand them correctly, and ultimately identify"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • +1

    "Evaluate how much the issue affects the sprint goal and timeline. If it blocks the main goal, it needs to be prioritized. Discuss the issue with the team. Analyze the root cause of the issue. Is it because of unclear requirements or a design flaw? You may need to re-prioritize tasks. If the issue is serious enough to delay or change the sprint goal, communicate the updates to stakeholders and manage their expectations. Keep an eye on the solution’s progress and adjust your plans a"

    Hamzeh J. - "Evaluate how much the issue affects the sprint goal and timeline. If it blocks the main goal, it needs to be prioritized. Discuss the issue with the team. Analyze the root cause of the issue. Is it because of unclear requirements or a design flaw? You may need to re-prioritize tasks. If the issue is serious enough to delay or change the sprint goal, communicate the updates to stakeholders and manage their expectations. Keep an eye on the solution’s progress and adjust your plans a"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +1

    "Situation - A time I dealt with conflict while on a team was while I was working at Shopify on physical and digital gift card refund point of sale solutions. The situation was that we were dealing with complex technical constraints including not changing particular UI components behavior to act as they should be intended. On the refund screen, the existing design was using a toggle on the same screen to bring up a modal for gift card selection to either select digital or physical options. Thi"

    Ben G. - "Situation - A time I dealt with conflict while on a team was while I was working at Shopify on physical and digital gift card refund point of sale solutions. The situation was that we were dealing with complex technical constraints including not changing particular UI components behavior to act as they should be intended. On the refund screen, the existing design was using a toggle on the same screen to bring up a modal for gift card selection to either select digital or physical options. Thi"See full answer

    Product Designer
    Behavioral
    +3 more
  • +2

    "Referring to https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/03/23/15-strategies-for-balancing-competing-stakeholder-priorities/?sh=7c82aa68262f Understand the conflicting priorities and align it with the goal/ objectives and the company mission. Start with the Least Common Denominator between the conflicting priorities to come to a commonality and start from there to objectively approach the next imp priority Always keep communication on and be transparent with 'equality' an"

    Pramod V. - "Referring to https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/03/23/15-strategies-for-balancing-competing-stakeholder-priorities/?sh=7c82aa68262f Understand the conflicting priorities and align it with the goal/ objectives and the company mission. Start with the Least Common Denominator between the conflicting priorities to come to a commonality and start from there to objectively approach the next imp priority Always keep communication on and be transparent with 'equality' an"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
    +4 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +21

    "we can use two pointer + set like maintain i,j and also insert jth character to set like while set size is equal to our window j-i+1 then maximize our answer and increase jth pointer till last index"

    Kishor J. - "we can use two pointer + set like maintain i,j and also insert jth character to set like while set size is equal to our window j-i+1 then maximize our answer and increase jth pointer till last index"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
  • "Currently, I do a lot of data analysis using Azure Databricks and PowerBI. In Databricks, I write some basic SQL queries to retrieve the data and then pull that data into PowerBI for analysis. While this is sufficient, I believe there is room to make this skill set stronger. One way that I mitigate this currently is to maintain a strong relationship with our data analytics team. Whenever I have issues massaging or querying the data, I will reach out to one of those team members to help me get to"

    John F. - "Currently, I do a lot of data analysis using Azure Databricks and PowerBI. In Databricks, I write some basic SQL queries to retrieve the data and then pull that data into PowerBI for analysis. While this is sufficient, I believe there is room to make this skill set stronger. One way that I mitigate this currently is to maintain a strong relationship with our data analytics team. Whenever I have issues massaging or querying the data, I will reach out to one of those team members to help me get to"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
  • Product Manager
    Behavioral
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'How would you improve your favorite product?'

    "When a question like this is asked what is really being asked is "how do you think about the elements that make up a product and how does each part add value?". I generally try to answer it with a feature that has to do with user interaction. Good answers to this question could include "I would add a button to edit a post, and make it more visible and accessible rather than buried in a menu". Your rationale might be "**because it encourages users to post without fear that they will make"

    Sydney S. - "When a question like this is asked what is really being asked is "how do you think about the elements that make up a product and how does each part add value?". I generally try to answer it with a feature that has to do with user interaction. Good answers to this question could include "I would add a button to edit a post, and make it more visible and accessible rather than buried in a menu". Your rationale might be "**because it encourages users to post without fear that they will make"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'Design a refrigerator for kids.'
    +2

    "I have a few clarifying questions before diving into designing a fridge for kids. What is this company in? - Startup exploring ideas to design fridge, or an already established fridge company - Startup Kids = which age group is referred to her or I can define the user segments? -* You can define it* Where is the refrigerator being used (household/school/daycare)? - Household Assumption: I am assuming Fridge's basic function is to freeze meats/ice cream/veggies etc and stor"

    Manu G. - "I have a few clarifying questions before diving into designing a fridge for kids. What is this company in? - Startup exploring ideas to design fridge, or an already established fridge company - Startup Kids = which age group is referred to her or I can define the user segments? -* You can define it* Where is the refrigerator being used (household/school/daycare)? - Household Assumption: I am assuming Fridge's basic function is to freeze meats/ice cream/veggies etc and stor"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +4

    "For self achievement, The product manager builds useful products for users and makes the world better. For the team, The product manager can work with the team, and leverage the team resources to make things happen, which is more impactful. For the company, Pm are usually problem solvers, help companies to solve problems and grow better "

    Shen W. - "For self achievement, The product manager builds useful products for users and makes the world better. For the team, The product manager can work with the team, and leverage the team resources to make things happen, which is more impactful. For the company, Pm are usually problem solvers, help companies to solve problems and grow better "See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Product Manager
    Product Design
    +2 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 

    "int reverse(int x) { int rev = 0; bool isNegative = false; if(x 0){ int r = x % 10; rev = rev * 10 + r; x = x / 10; } if(isNegative){ return -rev; } return rev; } `"

    Nilay B. - "int reverse(int x) { int rev = 0; bool isNegative = false; if(x 0){ int r = x % 10; rev = rev * 10 + r; x = x / 10; } if(isNegative){ return -rev; } return rev; } `"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +19

    "First I will talk about this restaurant space in general. Types of restaurants, trends, think about how we can offer something that is differentiated to a viable buyer. Vision / mission of this product User segments - pick one Define user goals, user journey, needs/pain points Think about solutions to their pain points (10 min) Then I’d pick one or two of the solutions and define the features in more detail, as it ties to user journey. I’ll define tradeoffs **1.Restaurant sp"

    Yespm T. - "First I will talk about this restaurant space in general. Types of restaurants, trends, think about how we can offer something that is differentiated to a viable buyer. Vision / mission of this product User segments - pick one Define user goals, user journey, needs/pain points Think about solutions to their pain points (10 min) Then I’d pick one or two of the solutions and define the features in more detail, as it ties to user journey. I’ll define tradeoffs **1.Restaurant sp"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
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