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Microsoft interviews FAQs
Principal Program Manager applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 2.9 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 66.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Principal Program Manager roles take an average of 42 days to get hired, when considering 16 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 Principal Program Manager according to 16 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 29%
Phone interview: 29%
Group panel interview: 17%
Presentation: 10%
Drug test: 7%
Skills test: 7%
Background check: 2%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Oct 2019
Interview
Multiple Stage Interview process starting with Recruiters and then moving into an interview loop with numerous team members of the team you are likely to join. At the time (pre-COVID) travel was provided to Redmond for an in person interview for those in the area as well as video conferences for those off site.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Varies by interviewer. Each interviewer was given a different area of focus from Culture, Leadership, Technical knowledge, Industry expertise.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (New Delhi) in Mar 2022
Interview
4 rounds with a mix of peers and ++ level employees from the team's ecosystem. All interviews focused on a mix of behavorial questions, and system and user thinking problems.
I was interviewing for the role in Canada sitting out of India so conversations were scheduled late in the night. Interviewers were friendly and accommodating of this time difference.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Tell about a time you solved a complex problem for the company
- Build a 'follow' feature for Microsoft Start
- Any new-age technology that interests you? Structure a product based on that technology.
- How will you respond to feedback on content on your product - if management told you that 'objectionable' content is passing through the feed, how would you resolve this situation?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA)
Interview
Went onsite and talked to some low level PMs about their work. Was left guessing about what the context and content was about the role they were hiring for as they seemed to be waiting for me to pitch a STAR story FANGstyle tailored to the role that was not described.
It seemed like this was gatekeeping for someone who was not me. I've had principal offers at MS before.
The principal interview was interesting as all people who've been at the firm for twenty years are. They were the only one that was at all engaging. It was unclear what they were looking for in our chat, but that was expected from suave executives who deal with skip and LCA continually.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about my projects that aren't public information. Tell me about how much you've stalked me in prep for this interview.
Lots of standard boring behavioral interview questions.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft in Nov 2021
Interview
Among all the companies I spoke to (and got offers from all of them), Microsoft interviews were the most humane. All people were nice, respectful, engaged, and I felt like I was sold the product more than asked to sell myself.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Mostly behavioral questions about working with engineers & questions on product design.