Top Microsoft Interview Questions

Review this list of 215 Microsoft interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 

    "What are you strengths -: My strengths would include my eagerness to learn. This allows me to be open to new projects, roles and products and I can give my 100% to achieve the goals expected of me Other strengths would include my collaborative approach to work. I believe a team can achieve tremendous success if shares a common goal, respects other's opinions and contribution and is built on fundamental of trust Finally my biggest strength would be my commitment and passion to solve the custome"

    Amit A. - "What are you strengths -: My strengths would include my eagerness to learn. This allows me to be open to new projects, roles and products and I can give my 100% to achieve the goals expected of me Other strengths would include my collaborative approach to work. I believe a team can achieve tremendous success if shares a common goal, respects other's opinions and contribution and is built on fundamental of trust Finally my biggest strength would be my commitment and passion to solve the custome"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +7

    "So here is what I would do if I had to designing a system to log messages in order involves several considerations, including the choice of software, hardware, storage mechanisms, and scalability. Here’s how I would approach this: 1. Requirements Analysis: Message Format: Define the structure of the messages to log (e.g., text, JSON). Volume: Estimate the expected volume of messages per second. This will help in determining the infrastructure requirements. **Order Guarantee"

    Theodore (teddy) W. - "So here is what I would do if I had to designing a system to log messages in order involves several considerations, including the choice of software, hardware, storage mechanisms, and scalability. Here’s how I would approach this: 1. Requirements Analysis: Message Format: Define the structure of the messages to log (e.g., text, JSON). Volume: Estimate the expected volume of messages per second. This will help in determining the infrastructure requirements. **Order Guarantee"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    System Design
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +2

    "I'm going to structure my answer like this so it is easy for both of us to follow up and grasp them easily. Let's first clear out some of the grey areas and make them black and white. Also, decide what are in-scope and out of scope. Second, let's understand what is our goal for improvement - is it the customer experience or any specific feature in mind? for a group of users? Third, I will brainstorm what are the pain points for user personas and solutions to improve them. Fourth, I will priorit"

    Suhasan C. - "I'm going to structure my answer like this so it is easy for both of us to follow up and grasp them easily. Let's first clear out some of the grey areas and make them black and white. Also, decide what are in-scope and out of scope. Second, let's understand what is our goal for improvement - is it the customer experience or any specific feature in mind? for a group of users? Third, I will brainstorm what are the pain points for user personas and solutions to improve them. Fourth, I will priorit"See full answer

    Product Design
  • +4

    "Around mid-2023, I was tasked with investigating the feasibility of selling access to our site to third-party vendors who wanted to use bots to automate processes for their clients. Some initial work had been done on this but it was very high-level and very little data or analysis had actually been done. When I was tasked with this the idea was to sell access to a special header that would allow vendors to by-pass our F5 Shape implementation, a bot defense tool. From a business and security pers"

    John F. - "Around mid-2023, I was tasked with investigating the feasibility of selling access to our site to third-party vendors who wanted to use bots to automate processes for their clients. Some initial work had been done on this but it was very high-level and very little data or analysis had actually been done. When I was tasked with this the idea was to sell access to a special header that would allow vendors to by-pass our F5 Shape implementation, a bot defense tool. From a business and security pers"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'Design a photo app for the blind.'

    "Context Photo app || Click images, videos via mobile app (android, ios) + editing + share + upload Who are we? || Startup who wants to build accessibility apps for the disabled people Why do we want to build this app? || Current apps are not usable by visually impaired, we can bring difference & gain market share. Constraints || To launch in next 12 months Is this app exclusively targeted for blind? || Yes but regular people may also use it but not our main target group **Goa"

    FuzzyLogic - "Context Photo app || Click images, videos via mobile app (android, ios) + editing + share + upload Who are we? || Startup who wants to build accessibility apps for the disabled people Why do we want to build this app? || Current apps are not usable by visually impaired, we can bring difference & gain market share. Constraints || To launch in next 12 months Is this app exclusively targeted for blind? || Yes but regular people may also use it but not our main target group **Goa"See full answer

    Product Design
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  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'Design a key-value store.'

    "Simple file system ( Hash Map , LSM trees), and consistent hashing. I failed to discuss about conflicts ( Versioning)"

    V V. - "Simple file system ( Hash Map , LSM trees), and consistent hashing. I failed to discuss about conflicts ( Versioning)"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    System Design
    +2 more
  • +9

    "I will have a discussion with him regarding why he disagrees with my solution. I will try to present him a plan about my solution. why I think its the best approach and take his feedback. I will try to analyze his approach and find the best in both approach. Will try to discuss with him and come up with an approach which is agreeable to both parties. The idea is refining the solution and approach instead of personally taking the disagreement. I will make sure that we are attacking the problem"

    Shanavas M. - "I will have a discussion with him regarding why he disagrees with my solution. I will try to present him a plan about my solution. why I think its the best approach and take his feedback. I will try to analyze his approach and find the best in both approach. Will try to discuss with him and come up with an approach which is agreeable to both parties. The idea is refining the solution and approach instead of personally taking the disagreement. I will make sure that we are attacking the problem"See full answer

    Behavioral
  • +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
  • "Request inputs/feedback on my response below with regards to this question and ways to improve and if it looks apt for this question. As a TPM at xxx, I was responsible for delivering a feature that would provide prescription (medications) alternatives to users in the Prescription Shopping Consumer Experience App. The project had a tight deadline as it was something that our account management team promised to a client who wanted it for their employees. My goal was to ensure smooth development"

    Pavani B. - "Request inputs/feedback on my response below with regards to this question and ways to improve and if it looks apt for this question. As a TPM at xxx, I was responsible for delivering a feature that would provide prescription (medications) alternatives to users in the Prescription Shopping Consumer Experience App. The project had a tight deadline as it was something that our account management team promised to a client who wanted it for their employees. My goal was to ensure smooth development"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'How would you improve the experience of moving to a new city?'
    +1

    " I would ask some clarifying questions to refine my objective and know about our users? What do you mean by experience? Travel, food, short stay, long stay, dating, event, work, airport, registration? - Improve Food, Travel, Event experience, which can be a short or long stay. What do you mean by the movement to a new city? International travel/ within a specific country (designing solution for any country?) or any geography? - within a country suppose India What is our business objecti"

    Ajinkya P. - " I would ask some clarifying questions to refine my objective and know about our users? What do you mean by experience? Travel, food, short stay, long stay, dating, event, work, airport, registration? - Improve Food, Travel, Event experience, which can be a short or long stay. What do you mean by the movement to a new city? International travel/ within a specific country (designing solution for any country?) or any geography? - within a country suppose India What is our business objecti"See full answer

    Product Design
    Analytical
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +8

    "Assumptions: Platform: iOS/Android and Web Application Service Type: Renting Bicycles (hourly, daily, weekly), possibility of buying or selling Geography: Focusing on Asian markets, e.g., India, where bicycles are a popular mode of transportation Role: Product Manager at Microsoft Objective: Design an app focusing on customer engagement and new customer acquisition Setting the Stage: Why a Renting Business? Market Potential: In Asian markets, a si"

    Nagendra S. - "Assumptions: Platform: iOS/Android and Web Application Service Type: Renting Bicycles (hourly, daily, weekly), possibility of buying or selling Geography: Focusing on Asian markets, e.g., India, where bicycles are a popular mode of transportation Role: Product Manager at Microsoft Objective: Design an app focusing on customer engagement and new customer acquisition Setting the Stage: Why a Renting Business? Market Potential: In Asian markets, a si"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 

    "In 2019, I was given a very important problem to solve. In a team of 3 we had to build a mobility assist device. The customer segment we would go for was something we could decide. The project was very close to me as I had lost someone I loved because of cancer and I saw how reduced mobility was a huge pain point in not being able to do physical activities. My team could only think of elderly people as the main target market. As the Head of Product what I did was: 1) I helped them dive even d"

    Soumya S. - "In 2019, I was given a very important problem to solve. In a team of 3 we had to build a mobility assist device. The customer segment we would go for was something we could decide. The project was very close to me as I had lost someone I loved because of cancer and I saw how reduced mobility was a huge pain point in not being able to do physical activities. My team could only think of elderly people as the main target market. As the Head of Product what I did was: 1) I helped them dive even d"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +1

    "Clarifying Questions Who are we? Traditional elevator company or a new age tech startup Assumption: New age tech based elevator company Any constraints: Budget, etc. Assumption: No What kind of a skyscraper building: Assumption: Commercial. Includes office spaces as well as others Any particular goal with respect to building this elevator? Design best in class elevator providing the best user experience for passengers User needs - Users have the following needs when"

    Shasleen I. - "Clarifying Questions Who are we? Traditional elevator company or a new age tech startup Assumption: New age tech based elevator company Any constraints: Budget, etc. Assumption: No What kind of a skyscraper building: Assumption: Commercial. Includes office spaces as well as others Any particular goal with respect to building this elevator? Design best in class elevator providing the best user experience for passengers User needs - Users have the following needs when"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
    +1 more
  • 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 

    "A load balancer, web application servers and a large database. Database is the core of the application containing the songs and tags related to each song. Application server will provide the search interface to find songs, play them and search them in specific categories or channels."

    Soraya B. - "A load balancer, web application servers and a large database. Database is the core of the application containing the songs and tags related to each song. Application server will provide the search interface to find songs, play them and search them in specific categories or channels."See full answer

    Product Manager
    Technical
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 

    "I told a story about how our team was focussed on moving a key metric i.e. NPS and to do that we build 3 top requested user feature. Post release the detractors % didn't move even though the detractors request for features shipped went down. Then I connect with users and did some analysis post which we realised that we need to pivot our focus from shipping features to enabling complete workflows for our users i.e. shipping all those feature which are used together in a feature as then only users"

    Aditya S. - "I told a story about how our team was focussed on moving a key metric i.e. NPS and to do that we build 3 top requested user feature. Post release the detractors % didn't move even though the detractors request for features shipped went down. Then I connect with users and did some analysis post which we realised that we need to pivot our focus from shipping features to enabling complete workflows for our users i.e. shipping all those feature which are used together in a feature as then only users"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'How would you use VR to improve education?'

    "I got to play with a VR for the first time a few weeks ago at my friend’s house and I loved it, so this is a really fun question. Clarifying Questions Is this something we are looking to create Microsoft or are we a startup company etc? > Education can refer to elementary, high school, university, or even self-learning (e.g. Udemy). Is there a specific area we want to focus on? << What do y"

    Rohan S. - "I got to play with a VR for the first time a few weeks ago at my friend’s house and I loved it, so this is a really fun question. Clarifying Questions Is this something we are looking to create Microsoft or are we a startup company etc? > Education can refer to elementary, high school, university, or even self-learning (e.g. Udemy). Is there a specific area we want to focus on? << What do y"See full answer

    Product Design
    Concept
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'Implement k-means clustering.'

    "i dont know"

    Dinesh K. - "i dont know"See full answer

    Machine Learning Engineer
    Coding
    +5 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    +17

    "We can use dictionary to store cache items so that our read / write operations will be O(1). Each time we read or update an existing record, we have to ensure the item is moved to the back of the cache. This will allow us to evict the first item in the cache whenever the cache is full and we need to add new records also making our eviction O(1) Instead of normal dictionary, we will use ordered dictionary to store cache items. This will allow us to efficiently move items to back of the cache a"

    Alfred O. - "We can use dictionary to store cache items so that our read / write operations will be O(1). Each time we read or update an existing record, we have to ensure the item is moved to the back of the cache. This will allow us to evict the first item in the cache whenever the cache is full and we need to add new records also making our eviction O(1) Instead of normal dictionary, we will use ordered dictionary to store cache items. This will allow us to efficiently move items to back of the cache a"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +6 more
  • Microsoft logoAsked at Microsoft 
    Video answer for 'Design Uber Eats.'
    +6

    "basic drew the diagram"

    Aswath B. - "basic drew the diagram"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    System Design
    +2 more
Showing 21-40 of 215