Microsoft SDE-2 — interviewed for L61, offered L62

## Background
I focused a lot on getting in front of the right people — leaning on referrals and reaching out to recruiters directly rather than relying on the standard application route.

## Online assessment
Two DSA-heavy problems, one a fairly involved **3D dynamic programming** question.

## Round-by-round
*(Four technical rounds in total.)*

### Round 1 — DSA
Linked lists, priority queues and graphs. The bar wasn't just a working answer — optimal time and space complexity was expected for each problem.

### Round 2 — Low-level design
How well I understood **SOLID** principles and could apply the right design patterns in a real scenario.

### Round 3 — High-level design
Architecture-level thinking: scalability, system optimisation, and specifically how those principles apply when designing AI-driven services.

### Round 4 — Hiring manager
A deeper look at the technical choices I'd made through my career, plus behavioural questions on cultural fit.

## Verdict
**Selected.** I interviewed for an **L61** position but was offered **L62** based on performance across the rounds.