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MICROSOFT · STAFF SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Microsoft staff engineer interview

The staff and principal software engineer level at Microsoft is Principal Software Engineer (65–67) and above, for staff, principal and senior staff engineers. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

From public candidate reports and Microsoft's careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Microsoft.

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Microsoft titlePrincipal Software Engineer (65–67) and above
ExperienceStaff, principal and senior staff engineers
Interviews after screeningAbout 5
System design roundYes

The Staff Software Engineer rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 60 min

    One or two live coding problems, sometimes with resume questions, occasionally run by the hiring manager.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Frequently a hiring-manager conversation about scope and impact instead of pure coding.

  2. Coding (DSA) × 3 · 45 min

    Code runs in a tool that compiles and executes it, pseudocode is not accepted, and you are expected to test your own solution; new-grad loops are often three coding rounds.

    At Staff Software Engineer: One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

  3. System design (HLD) · 60 min

    Design sets your level for senior and above; mid-level loops may skip it or keep it light, and infrastructure roles can have more than one.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Two rounds at many companies. Expected to handle ambiguity, cost, operations and cross-team trade-offs, and to change the design when the interviewer pushes.

  4. Hiring manager · 60 min

    The final conversation, historically called the 'As Appropriate' (AA) interview, covers background and behavioral questions and often one open design question.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Strategy, influence without authority and the biggest bets you have made.

What Microsoft interviewers look for

Behavioral rounds are based on the Growth mindset plus stated values: Respect, Integrity, Accountability, Growth mindset. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Microsoft Staff Software Engineer

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

Difficulty
Topic
21 questions
  1. Reverse Words in a String Medium Arrays & Hashing
  2. Two Sum Easy Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Atlassian, Swiggy
  3. Word Search Medium Recursion & Backtracking also PhonePe
  4. First Missing Positive Hard Arrays & Hashing also Flipkart, Walmart Global Tech
  5. Spiral Matrix Medium Arrays & Hashing also Adobe
  6. Longest Substring with At Most K Distinct Characters Medium Arrays & Hashing also Razorpay
  7. Reverse Nodes in k-Group Hard Linked List also Amazon
  8. Copy List with Random Pointer Medium Linked List also Amazon, Meta
  9. Merge k Sorted Lists Hard Heaps also Amazon
  10. Swap Nodes in Pairs Medium Linked List
  11. Sort List Medium Linked List
  12. Construct Binary Tree from Preorder and Inorder Traversal Medium Trees & BST
  13. Validate Binary Search Tree Medium Trees & BST
  14. Number of Islands Medium Graphs also Amazon, Meta, Goldman Sachs +1
  15. Median of Two Sorted Arrays Hard Binary Search also Adobe
  16. Trapping Rain Water Hard Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Salesforce +1
  17. LRU Cache Medium Design Data Structures also Amazon, Apple, Netflix +4
  18. Container With Most Water Medium Arrays & Hashing also Goldman Sachs
  19. Sort Colors Medium Arrays & Hashing
  20. Decode String Medium Stack also Google
  21. Gas Station Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at Staff Software Engineer

Formal design rounds start at Senior (63+) and are optional or light at SDE II. The prep page names distributed systems, service-oriented architecture, replication, partitioning, CAP and auto-scaling. Prompts often resemble Microsoft or Azure products.

All Microsoft system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Microsoft Staff Software Engineer interview?

About 5 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, coding (dsa), system design (hld), hiring manager.

Is there a system design round for Microsoft Staff Software Engineer?

Yes. Formal design rounds start at Senior (63+) and are optional or light at SDE II. The prep page names distributed systems, service-oriented architecture, replication, partitioning, CAP and auto-scaling. Prompts often resemble Microsoft or Azure products.

What coding questions does Microsoft ask at Staff Software Engineer?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Reverse Words in a String, Two Sum, Word Search, First Missing Positive, Spiral Matrix.

What does Microsoft expect in coding rounds at Staff Software Engineer?

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

Staff Software Engineer interviews at other companies

Staff Software Engineer interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions