From my experience interviewing Software Engineer candidates at Google (most of them for positions at Google Zurich actually) 1. It is not true that you will b

From my experience interviewing Software Engineer candidates at Google (most of them for positions at Google Zurich actually) 1. It is not true that you will be hired for a junior position no matter what your previous experience. It is true that you should expect to be hired at a slightly lower position than you would at another company with the same level of experience. On the other hand, promotions are based entirely on merit, not on tenure. I know people who were promoted very high very fast, because they were very good. 2. It is not true that you will only be asked algorithmic questions. It may happen every now and then, depending on the preferences of the people interviewing you, but in general you should also expect design questions, questions about testing, about engineering practices etc. 3. I don't know if Microsoft is better organized and managed than Google. I suspect it is more organized and managed than Google. At Google process is something that is actively avoided by design, and the managers tend to interfere as little as possible. Whether you like it or not depends on your personal preferences. I have friends who came from Microsoft and Yahoo and they like it better at Google, but the sample is obviously biased.