Microsoft Data Engineering Interview Tips
09 Oct 2021
I recently started working at Microsft as a data engineer. Someone reached out via linked in asking questions about what they could do to prepare for a job interview at Microsoft for a data engineer. I figured that I would share some of the information here as well for prospective developers who are also looking for advice!
Resources
These are some great resources to check out if you are interested in becoming a data engineer at Microsoft. In no particular order:
- Microsoft Learn Certification DP900 - This certification is a great entry into data engineering at Microsoft. It introduces you to data engineering concepts as well as the Azure resources available to develop with. If you don’t have time to register and take the exam (which I recommend that you do if you have the time!!) I suggest at least learning the information. It is free to make an accounta nd track your progress in the learning path for the exam.
- Pluralsight Azure Synapse Fundamentals - (Note I have not personally taken this course) This class gives an introduction on how to create datalakes within Azure using Azure Synapse. Synapse is a powerful data tool that’s great for OLAP processing of data from a variety of sources.
- Pluralsight Azure Databricks - Depending on what you may be doing, it could be very beneficial to learn how to develop on Azure Databricks.
- Microsoft Company Values - This is a great resource to learn about what the company values. Do your values align with the comapny’s values?
- Microsoft Interview Tips - These tips are extremely useful!
Tips
- Review the job listing thouroughly to look at the required skills for the job and base your preparations about that. You can also reach out to your recruiter if you have one to get more details about the job and required skills.
- Be prepared to talk about anything that you have on your resume including SQL, a scripting language (Python, JS, etc.), and maybe even data architecture.
- Practice setting up some Azure data engineering pipelines from scratch! Make sure to use resource groups and to delete any resources that incur cost immediately after testing!
Good luck on your interviews! Please share your tips you have with me as well! I’ll add them to the list above!