The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA) in Jun 2009
Interview
I was interviewed for an overseas based team in their Redmond campus. I met with the hiring manager when he was visiting Redmond and after an hour long discussion he decided that I should have a full-loop.
Since the team was not based in Redmond, my interviews were through video conferences. First 4 interviews were scheduled over two days - two video conference and two with sister team managers in Redmond. It went well and I was given 5th round on a weekend evening. After that round, I was told that I would have another round with their Group Product Manager. It went well.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you determine that a rectangle is not overlapping with another rectangle.
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Jan 2026
Interview
Not a great experience with interviews taking 1 month to complete. Despite ongoing communication, the role did not move forward, reportedly due to approval constraints. The overall experience highlights a gap in aligning internal approvals before progressing candidates to advanced stages.
Clearer communication and better alignment internally would improve the candidate experience
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions on Project Experience and Thought process
The interview process is grueling and I get why people do it but its more awareness, know that you'll spend an entire day and meet several people, so it's important to be mentally and physically prepared. Eat a good breakfast but not heavy stay hydrated. This was just for a PM role it's their standard process I imagine executive level is another thing altogether
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you didn't agree with someone who was a stakeholder on your project and how did you handle that?
Very smooth, thoughtful interview process. It showed the recruiter really cared what I had to contribute and asked great followup clarifying questions. Would definitely recommend everyone try an interview with them even if it doesn't pan out.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Name one project that you have worked on and tell us the outcomes?
Program Manager applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 68% positive. To compare, the company-average is 66.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Program Manager roles take an average of 28 days to get hired, when considering 553 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 30 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Program Manager according to 553 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 39%
Phone interview: 22%
Skills test: 9%
Background check: 7%
Group panel interview: 7%
Personality test: 4%
Presentation: 4%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Drug test: 2%
Other: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -