Microsoft Interview Process: Stages, Questions and Growth Mindset

How the Microsoft Interview Process Works

Microsoft sets out its process on its How we hire page. These are the main stages, in our own words:

The details vary by team, role and country, so ask your recruiter what your process will include. Microsoft says the recruiter shares the timeline for next steps after your interviews. It also says it usually cannot give individual feedback to candidates who are not selected for a screen or interview.

What Microsoft Interviewers Look For

Microsoft says it uses structured interviews to measure real skills against the role's requirements, alongside shared values and how you would learn, collaborate and contribute across teams. Its interview tips list the culture areas interviews focus on: growth mindset, being diverse and inclusive, One Microsoft and customer obsession, plus the values of respect, integrity and accountability.

So a Microsoft behavioral interview is about more than whether you can do the job. Interviewers also want to hear how you handled feedback, worked with other people and changed your approach. The descriptions below are our own plain-English summaries, so read Microsoft's culture page and mission and values page once before you interview.

Microsoft Culture and Values at a Glance

What Is a Growth Mindset Interview?

People use "growth mindset interview" for the part of a Microsoft interview that tests how you learn. Microsoft describes growth mindset as being a learn-it-all rather than a know-it-all. In an interview, that means showing you can take feedback, change your mind and improve, not just that you have always been right.

The strongest growth mindset answers have three things:

• A real setback or gap. Something that went wrong, or a skill you did not have yet.
• A visible change. What you did differently because of it, not only what you felt.
• Proof it stuck. A later result, or a habit you still use.

Avoid disguised boasts such as "I worked too hard". For more practice on this kind of question, see how to answer "tell me about a time you failed".

STAR With a Reflection: How Microsoft Suggests You Answer

Microsoft recommends the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and adds a fifth step, Reflection, sometimes written as STAR(R). The Reflection is one or two sentences on what you learned and what you do differently now. It is a natural place to show growth mindset, so don't skip it.

Microsoft Interview Questions, With Example Answers

For each area: what it means, a question in the style interviewers use, and a short example answer using STAR plus Reflection. The answers are fictional and kept brief; yours should use your own real stories and take about two minutes out loud.

1. Growth mindset

Treat ability as something you build. Stay curious, take sensible risks, learn from mistakes, and be a learner more than a know-it-all.

Typical question: "Tell me about a time you got something wrong and what you changed afterwards."

Example answer (fictional): I launched a reporting feature without testing it with the people who would use it, and hardly anyone adopted it (S). As the owner, I needed to find out why (T). I interviewed five users, learned they needed a weekly email and not a dashboard, and rebuilt it that way (A). Weekly use tripled, and I now test a rough version with users before building anything (R). My reflection: I had assumed I knew the problem, so now I start by asking (Reflection).

2. Customer obsessed

Be curious about the problems customers are trying to solve, build trust with them, and bring their view into your decisions.

Typical question: "Describe a time customer feedback changed your plan."

Example answer (fictional): We were about to add a new settings page when support tickets showed that customers could not find the settings we already had (S). I led the release (T). I read 50 tickets, joined two customer calls and proposed fixing the navigation first (A). Related tickets fell by about a third, and we dropped the new page altogether (R). I learned to check the support queue before planning any release (Reflection).

3. Diverse and inclusive

Seek out different backgrounds and points of view, notice your own biases, and make sure people can contribute.

Typical question: "Tell me about a time you made sure a different point of view was heard."

Example answer (fictional): In our planning meetings, the same two people did most of the talking, and a remote colleague rarely spoke (S). I ran the meeting (T). I started sharing the agenda a day early and collecting written ideas before we discussed them (A). The remote colleague's idea ended up shaping the next quarter's plan, and more of the team started contributing (R). I had not noticed the pattern until I looked for it, so I now check who has not spoken (Reflection).

4. One Microsoft

Work across teams and differences, build on other people's success, and put the shared goal ahead of your own team's.

Typical question: "Give an example of working with another team that had different priorities."

Example answer (fictional): Our launch depended on a data team whose roadmap was already full (S). I had to get the work done without escalating (T). I sat down with their lead, learned what they needed that quarter, and offered one of our engineers for two weeks in exchange for the change we needed (A). Both teams hit their dates, and we now plan shared work together each quarter (R). I learned to ask what the other team is measured on before asking for anything (Reflection).

5. Respect

Take other people's thoughts, feelings and backgrounds as seriously as your own.

Typical question: "Tell me about a difficult disagreement with a colleague and how you handled it."

Example answer (fictional): A designer and I disagreed sharply about a checkout change, and the discussion was getting personal (S). We needed a decision by Friday (T). I asked to talk one to one, listened to her reasons first, and suggested testing both versions with a small group of users (A). Her version won on the test, we shipped it on time, and we kept working well together (R). I learned that listening first shortens the argument (Reflection).

6. Integrity

Be honest, ethical and trustworthy, including when it is uncomfortable.

Typical question: "Describe a time you had to deliver bad news or admit a problem."

Example answer (fictional): Two days before a client deadline, I found an error in numbers we had already sent them (S). It was my analysis (T). I told my manager straight away, called the client that day with the corrected figures, and explained what had gone wrong (A). The client thanked us for flagging it, kept the contract, and we added a second review step (R). Raising it early cost far less than hiding it would have (Reflection).

7. Accountability

Take full responsibility for your decisions, your actions and the results.

Typical question: "Tell me about a project that did not go to plan and what you did about it."

Example answer (fictional): A migration I led slipped three weeks because I had underestimated the testing (S). I owned the date (T). I told stakeholders early, reset the plan with weekly checkpoints, and took on the test scripts myself (A). We finished within the new date with no customer issues (R). I now build testing time into my first estimate and share the assumptions behind it (Reflection).

For more questions in this style, see our behavioral interview questions.

Microsoft Technical Interviews

If you are applying for an engineering or other technical role, read Microsoft's guide to technical interviewing. It says interviews cover problem solving, design, coding and testing, as well as your past experience and how you would handle situations in the role.

• Length: Microsoft describes the technical round as 45 minutes, so plan your time.
• Language: you code in a language you are strong in, not pseudocode, using a coding tool that can run your code.
• Problem solving: ask clarifying questions and plan before you implement.
• Code quality: aim for clean, concise, bug-free code that follows good practice.
• Testing: test your own solution and point out error conditions, edge cases and security concerns.
• Topics, depending on the role: algorithms and Big O, data structures, system design and distributed systems, AI and machine learning, data science or networking.

For practice, work through our coding interview problems, which have tested Python and TypeScript solutions, and try a mock coding interview to get used to explaining your thinking while you code.

Can you use AI in a Microsoft interview?

Microsoft's candidate code of conduct allows responsible use of AI tools while you prepare. It asks you to complete assessments and interviews without outside help unless you are told otherwise. Check with your recruiter if you are unsure.

How to Prepare for a Microsoft Interview

Mistakes to Avoid

Practise Your Microsoft Interview Answers Out Loud

Growth mindset answers only get good when you say them out loud and someone pushes back. Build your stories with the free STAR builder, then rehearse them in an AI mock interview.

MockIF builds a mock interview from your CV and the job description you paste in, so the questions match the role you applied for. It asks follow-up questions when an answer stays vague, works in voice or avatar mode, and gives you scored feedback on each answer. It is free to start with 5 credits, then monthly or 3-monthly plans, or one-off credit packs (see pricing).

Frequently Asked Questions