Data Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 3.4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 74% positive. To compare, the company-average is 71.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Data Scientist roles take an average of 15 days to get hired, when considering 19 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 18 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Data Scientist according to 19 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 21%
Skills test: 18%
Phone interview: 16%
Presentation: 13%
Drug test: 8%
Background check: 8%
Other: 5%
Group panel interview: 5%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Personality test: 3%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Atlanta, GA) in Feb 2022
Interview
One interview with recruiting manager, then 3 other interviews with different tech, and two managers. The managers were from different regions were we discussed the strategies and the methodologies to be used. With the tech person it was about the necessities of the job and what I could do and what needed to be done.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Have you ever worked in a multicultural environment dealing with global clients?
Feeling thrilled to have accepted the offer, I look back on this interview process as both challenging and rewarding. It began with a technical round where I tackled a complex A/B testing design question, followed by a SQL query on user retention. The final stages included a system design discussion that had me sweating, but honestly, the system design section on PracHub prepared me well. Each step pushed my limits, but the culmination was definitely worth it, landing me a role at Microsoft.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Design an A/B test to measure the impact of a new ranking change in Bing, and explain how you would handle network interference between treatment and control users.
Write a SQL query that computes 7-day rolling user retention from a daily events table, then flags cohorts whose week-over-week retention dropped more than 10%.
Phone screen with HR/recruiter. Less than 10 mins. Very basic mostly about role fit and my background and resume. Did not hear back from them at all. Very unenthusiastic during the call
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Feb 2026
Interview
Overall 3 rounds with 2 technical and 1 managerial. The 1st round was DS and ML heavy with some analytics. The 2 nd round was resume, SQL and causal /AB experimentation. The managerial round was resume related and some behavioural questions.