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Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer Interview Questions and Answers

Updated 31 Jul 2024

Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer Interview Experiences

2 interviews found

Interview experience
5
Excellent
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - Technical 

(2 Questions)

  • Q1. Synchronisation primitives in rust?
  • Ans. 

    Rust provides various synchronisation primitives like Mutex, RwLock, Atomic types, etc.

    • Mutex: Provides exclusive access to data

    • RwLock: Allows multiple readers or one writer at a time

    • Atomic types: Provide atomic operations on primitive types

  • Answered by AI
  • Q2. Write a rust code to read a file reverse the contents & write it back to file. Using multiple threads
  • Ans. 

    Rust code to read a file, reverse contents, and write back using multiple threads

    • Use std::fs to read and write files

    • Create multiple threads to handle reading, reversing, and writing operations

    • Use channels to communicate between threads

  • Answered by AI
Round 2 - Coding Test 

DSA question on Depth first search. & other on reverse the strings.

Skills evaluated in this interview

Interview experience
5
Excellent
Difficulty level
Easy
Process Duration
Less than 2 weeks
Result
Selected Selected

I applied via campus placement at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee and was interviewed in Apr 2024. There were 2 interview rounds.

Round 1 - Technical 

(2 Questions)

  • Q1. Dp hard sliding window mqximum
  • Q2. Jah hshh hahaha nsnana
Round 2 - Technical 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. Leetcode hard easy question

Interview Preparation Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - just clear your basics

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Interview experience
4
Good
Difficulty level
Easy
Process Duration
2-4 weeks
Result
Not Selected

I applied via Naukri.com and was interviewed in Aug 2024. There was 1 interview round.

Round 1 - Technical 

(5 Questions)

  • Q1. Design a efficiënte db read
  • Ans. 

    Efficient database read design

    • Use indexing to quickly locate data

    • Minimize the number of reads by fetching only necessary columns

    • Consider denormalizing data for faster reads

    • Implement caching mechanisms to reduce database load

    • Optimize queries by avoiding unnecessary joins

  • Answered by AI
  • Q2. Exception handling
  • Q3. Customruntime exception
  • Q4. Design abstract factory
  • Q5. Design a system to read the data efficiently without iterating on record repeatedly
  • Ans. 

    Use indexing to access data directly without iterating

    • Implement a database with proper indexing on key fields

    • Utilize data structures like hash tables or binary search trees for quick access

    • Consider using caching mechanisms to store frequently accessed data

    • Optimize queries by using efficient algorithms like merge sort or quicksort

  • Answered by AI

Interview Preparation Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Prepare core java and design questions

Skills evaluated in this interview

Principal Engineer Interview Questions & Answers

Oracle user image abhishek raj Bhanu

posted on 12 Jan 2025

Interview experience
4
Good
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - Technical 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. SQL question around First_value
Interview experience
1
Bad
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - Coding Test 

Medium questions, related to voting

Round 2 - Technical 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. System design for tagging system
  • Ans. 

    Design a system for tagging system

    • Consider scalability and performance requirements

    • Use a unique identifier for each tag

    • Implement a search functionality for tags

    • Ensure data consistency and integrity

    • Consider security measures to prevent unauthorized access

  • Answered by AI

Skills evaluated in this interview

I applied via Recruitment Consultant and was interviewed in Jan 2020. There were 7 interview rounds.

Interview Questionnaire 

1 Question

  • Q1. All Super Confused, Super Slow, Super irregular, Super Selfish, Super irritating, super stingy (in terms of salary) interview procedure.

Interview Preparation Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Super Confused, Super Slow, Super irregular, Super Selfish, Super irritating, super stingy (in terms of salary) interview procedure.

It all started 3 months back with a consultancy call to forward to 'Principal Engineer' position for their Airlines business. I said yes as this was the right role which matches my skill set and past experience.

This Super Confused, Super Slow, Super irregular, Super Selfish, Super irritating, super stingy (in terms of salary) interview procedure started 3 months ago with first round from HR. Took 7 days to call tell me i am suitable and matching for the position and to fix next technical rounds. Called for face to face to their office in Prestige Tech Park.

Reached promptly half-an-hour before the scheduled time as i respected this company. 2 rounds happened on the same day. Second round was with Junior Manager who got just promoted into that role as he was for long time with Amadeus. One hour, he was extremely satisfied with my technical capabilities. Suggested me to the third round - with Senior Manager. She was from Data background earlier and apart from data related technologies she does not know any other. She just knows what tools are need for her job and doe snot understand a bigger picture of any technicalities - as like in a pure people manager. One more hour and I was sent back on that day.

LONG GAP OF 2 weeks!!! Call from HR. Informed me happily that I Cleared 2nd and 3rd rounds. Was invited for 4th and 5th rounds again after 1 week to their office.

Reached promptly half-an-hour before the scheduled time as i respected this company. 4th round was the business head of Airline, 45 mins. Cleared and was sent to 5th round with a Senior Architect. Went for 1.5 hours. This also included some stress test questions continuously negating whatever clear answers I gave him. How is Amadeus bearing such Architects!?!?!?

LONG GAP OF 5 weeks!!! Call from HR. Informed me happily that I Cleared 4th and 5th rounds. Now she says, they want to consider me one level below the applied position. I agreed for that too!?!?!? Why do you want to do such for good candidates this way?

Later after a Gap of 1 week, she calls and invites me for final HR round. I felt good. Before HR round there is a fitment assessment test which is like forcing you that you are a negative thinking person. Somehow cleared it and attended HR round.

Again, Reached promptly half-an-hour before the scheduled time as i respected this company. HR round was so long that I never attended any MNCs HR round for so long. It went on for 1 hour 15 mins!!! Expected Salary was discussed thoroughly on either ends.

Again long gap of 1 week, and informs me HR round is cleared. Asks me to send last 3 payslips and last offer. I sent them immediately without any delay.


AGAIN LONG GAP OF 2 WEEKS. Now, HR says, Airline business is not doing well, and their Hospitality business wants to interview me 2 more rounds! After 1 week, she arranges 7th round with Director of Hospitality unit - whose background core is Mining from Dhanbad school of mines!?!?!? - and he is trying to judge a Masters in Computers on high tech data structures! WAIT, WHAT!?!?!?! You can understand their standards with this. Somehow, he could poorly manage it for 1 hour and I am sure i performed pretty good. I could see that in his replies.

Later after a Gap of 1 week, and today she calls me and informs me that I have gaps in education!!!What, what? Were you blind when you first scanned my resume before giving a 1st round of HR screening call???

If you clearly can't afford a techie from product companies, just keep quiet. Don't waste 3 months of anybody's precious time giving false hopes to the candidates. Even after reading similar feed backs on Amadeus, i made a big mistake of attending their rounds whenever they called me promptly.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS Super Confused, Super Slow, Super irregular, Super Selfish, Super irritating, super stingy (in terms of salary) COMPANY.
Interview experience
5
Excellent
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - One-on-one 

(2 Questions)

  • Q1. Zig zag binary tree
  • Q2. Design instagram

Interview Preparation Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Study well
Interview experience
3
Average
Difficulty level
Moderate
Process Duration
Less than 2 weeks
Result
Not Selected

I applied via Approached by Company and was interviewed before Jul 2023. There were 2 interview rounds.

Round 1 - Coding Test 

Most votes by a candidate given that people can give preference vote

Round 2 - System Design 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. Design Tagging System
  • Ans. 

    Design a tagging system for organizing and categorizing data.

    • Consider the types of data to be tagged (e.g. text, images, videos)

    • Create a standardized set of tags and categories

    • Allow for multiple tags to be assigned to each piece of data

    • Implement a search function based on tags

    • Consider implementing a hierarchy of tags for more complex categorization

  • Answered by AI
Interview experience
5
Excellent
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - Coding Test 

Java, Anagram, Streams to do joins similar to SQL statements

Round 2 - Technical 

(2 Questions)

  • Q1. Techstack decisions
  • Q2. Design decision on Parking lot scalability
  • Ans. 

    Parking lot scalability can be achieved through modular design, efficient space utilization, and smart technology integration.

    • Implement modular design to easily expand or reduce parking capacity

    • Utilize efficient space utilization techniques like stackable parking systems or automated parking solutions

    • Integrate smart technology such as sensors for real-time parking availability updates and automated payment systems

  • Answered by AI

Skills evaluated in this interview

Interview experience
3
Average
Difficulty level
-
Process Duration
-
Result
-
Round 1 - Coding Test 

Programming questions on matrix and array.

Round 2 - Technical 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. System design on copying a file from backup.
  • Ans. 

    Design a system for copying a file from backup

    • Consider the size of the file and available bandwidth for efficient transfer

    • Implement error checking and retry mechanisms to ensure data integrity

    • Use parallel processing to speed up the copying process

    • Consider implementing deduplication to save storage space

    • Ensure proper access controls and encryption for security

  • Answered by AI
Round 3 - HR 

(1 Question)

  • Q1. General questions on cultural fitment

Skills evaluated in this interview

Microsoft Corporation Interview FAQs

How many rounds are there in Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer interview?
Microsoft Corporation interview process usually has 2 rounds. The most common rounds in the Microsoft Corporation interview process are Technical and Coding Test.
How to prepare for Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer interview?
Go through your CV in detail and study all the technologies mentioned in your CV. Prepare at least two technologies or languages in depth if you are appearing for a technical interview at Microsoft Corporation. The most common topics and skills that interviewers at Microsoft Corporation expect are microsoft, C++, Computer science, Debugging and Python.
What are the top questions asked in Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer interview?

Some of the top questions asked at the Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer interview -

  1. Write a rust code to read a file reverse the contents & write it back to file. ...read more
  2. Synchronisation primitives in ru...read more
  3. Dp hard sliding window mqxi...read more

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Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer Interview Process

based on 2 interviews

Interview experience

5
  
Excellent
View more

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Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer Salary
based on 39 salaries
₹26 L/yr - ₹100 L/yr
78% more than the average Principal Engineer Salary in India
View more details

Microsoft Corporation Principal Engineer Reviews and Ratings

based on 3 reviews

4.6/5

Rating in categories

4.0

Skill development

3.7

Work-life balance

4.3

Salary

3.9

Job security

4.3

Company culture

3.3

Promotions

4.3

Work satisfaction

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