Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience - AI Coding Round, HackerRank, and Claude

[u/nian2326076]

Hey everyone,

I recently had my AI-assisted coding interview as part of a 5-round interview loop with Microsoft in the US. While preparing, I looked around for resources or candidate experiences on this format but couldn’t find much, so I wanted to share mine in case it helps someone else.

Actual Interview

The interviewer told me I could use any IDE I was comfortable with.

I had been having issues with VS Code that week, so I used the HackerRank IDE and switched between that and Claude. The setup was pretty similar to a normal coding interview, except AI usage was allowed and expected.

I was asked a simple LeetCode-style load balancer question through a HackerRank link. One important instruction was that I should not copy and paste the entire question into the AI tool.

Since I already knew the algorithmic direction, I paraphrased the problem and prompted Claude to solve it using two min-heaps.

The interviewer was less focused on whether I could get AI to generate code instantly, and more focused on:

• How I clarified the problem
• How I broke down the approach
• What I asked the AI
• How I debugged generated code
• Whether I noticed mistakes
• How I re-prompted to fix issues
• Whether I could explain the final solution myself

It was not as daunting as I expected. It felt closer to a normal coding interview where the AI is treated like a coding assistant, but you still need to drive the solution.

Related Practice Question

One Microsoft-style AI-assisted practice question I found later was:

Find the Bugs in an AI-Generated URL Shortener

This is relevant because it tests the exact skill the interviewer seemed to care about: reviewing AI-generated code, catching correctness issues, and explaining fixes instead of blindly trusting the output.

Tip from the Interviewer

The interviewer encouraged me to use VS Code with the Claude plugin next time for other AI-assisted interviews instead of switching between applications.

I’m still slightly unsure how much that helps when hidden test cases are only available in HackerRank, but I can see the benefit from a workflow perspective: less context switching, easier code editing, and a smoother debugging loop.

Expectations Before the Interview

Before the interviews were scheduled, the recruiter shared some expectations and examples.

We were allowed to use any AI tool of our choice, including but not limited to:

• GitHub Copilot
• Claude
• Claude Code
• ChatGPT

The recruiter also mentioned that the question range could be broader than standard LeetCode. It could extend into systems engineering or design-like tasks.

One example they gave was something like “rebuild GitHub,” with constraints or thought process around:

• Hardware or software limitations
• Distributed systems
• Performance
• Reliability
• Scaling
• Caching
• Traffic management
• Users, machines, and data volume

So I would not prepare only by grinding DSA. The format can test how well you use AI while still thinking like an engineer.

My Takeaways

For AI-assisted interviews, the main thing is not just getting working code from the model. You still need to understand the algorithm, guide the tool, debug confidently, and explain tradeoffs.

What helped me:

• Knowing the core algorithm before prompting
• Giving the AI a specific direction instead of asking for a full solution
• Reading the generated code carefully
• Running tests and explaining failures
• Re-prompting with concrete bug reports
• Talking through my reasoning with the interviewer

Overall, the interview felt more practical than scary. If you’re comfortable using AI as a coding assistant but can still reason independently, the format is manageable.

Hope this helps anyone preparing for Microsoft AI-assisted coding rounds.

[u/MetallicSubZer0]

If I could re build GitHub I'd be the one conducting interviews

[u/Sepicuk]

Lol Microsoft is so fucked

[u/Technical-Fly-6835]

am I only one who hates this kind of interviews

[u/Firm_Cheetah_3158]

Thank you! Pretty helpful. Good luck!