MSCI software engineer candidates describe an online assessment, technical interviews on DSA and CS fundamentals, project deep-dives, and an HR conversation. Reports vary by level, so prepare for coding, SQL and stack questions.
$144K
Avg. Base Comp
$168K
Avg. Total Comp
3 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidate reports of MSCI software engineering interviews, across SDE, senior and internship levels, point to an online assessment followed by technical interviews and an HR conversation. Experiences differ by level and year, so treat them as a range of what can happen.
Two candidates who received offers in 2024 each describe three rounds: two technical interviews and an HR round, with an online assessment before the internship interview. One of them describes longest-substring-without-repeating-characters and linked-list loop detection at easy-to-medium difficulty, with the interviewer caring about approach and communication. Both describe a second technical round centered on projects. The SDE candidate was asked how things worked under the hood and also mentions garbage collection in C++, while the intern was asked about the technologies used and how specific problems were handled.
SQL appears in the assessments. One candidate saw two coding problems plus a SQL question on the fourth highest salary, and did not pass the assessment. An internship candidate was asked to normalize a table and query across several tables.
The senior-level report differs. That candidate got an array minimum-cost problem where an iterative solution was preferred over recursion, then questions on Snowflake-style data sharing, Kubernetes host port mapping and Nginx reverse proxies. Senior applicants should be ready for stack-specific questions beyond their resume.
Two internship reports add other details. One mentions OOP basics, brainteasers and a presented home assignment. The other describes an HR screen about MSCI's business, followed by a department panel that probed ESG experience. Two candidates describe slow or absent feedback after rejection.
Synthesized from 6 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Msci process.
The interview process at MSCI started with an online assessment on HackerRank that felt like a good warm-up but turned out to be more rigorous than I expected. The OA had three questions total: two coding problems and one SQL query. The coding questions were medium difficulty — I remember one was about finding all subarrays of a given sum, which required careful handling of edge cases and optimal time complexity. The other coding problem was more straightforward, but the real curveball came with the SQL question. They asked me to write a query to find the fourth highest salary from an employee table, which sounds simple on the surface but requires you to think about ties, NULL values, and how to use window functions or subqueries efficiently. The HackerRank platform itself was smooth to use, and the time limits felt reasonable, but I found myself rushing through the SQL problem because I spent more time than I should have on the first coding challenge. The difficulty ramped up partway through each problem, which is something I didn't anticipate going in. If I'd made it past the OA, the next round would have been two technical interviews followed by an HR round, but I didn't qualify. Looking back, I think the SQL question was where I lost points — I got the logic right but my solution wasn't as clean as it could have been, and for a role focused on software engineering fundamentals, they seem to weight that heavily.
Prep tip from this candidate
The SQL question on finding the nth highest salary is a classic that rewards knowing window functions like ROW_NUMBER() or DENSE_RANK() — practice that specific pattern before the OA. Also, don't rush the coding problems; the subarray sum question is medium difficulty but requires you to handle overlapping ranges correctly, so trace through examples carefully.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Msci
Write a query to return whether each user's subscription date range overlaps with any other completed subscription
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Prime to N | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| String Subsequence | |
| Triplet Counting | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Nearest Common Ancestor | |
| Groups of Anagrams | |
| Longest Increasing Subsequence | |
| Radix Addition | |
| Most Repetition | |
| Production Model Monitoring | |
| Messenger Service Design | |
| Find Duplicate Numbers in a List | |
| Dijkstra implementation | |
| Binary Tree Validation | |
| Target Indices | |
| Median O(1) | |
| 85% vs 82% | |
| Filling Supermarket Bag | |
| RAG Strict Source Control | |
| Target Value Search | |
| Concurrent LLM Serving | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Check Matching Parentheses | |
| Ticket Reservation Locking | |
| Moving Window |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report an online assessment first, typically with two coding problems and a SQL question. Reported topics include finding subarrays with a given sum, the fourth highest salary, and normalizing a table with a multi-table query. One internship candidate describes a basic coding quiz instead, so the format may vary by role.
Two candidates who received offers describe a first technical round on data structures and algorithms plus core CS topics. Reported problems include longest substring without repeating characters and linked-list loop detection. Topics mentioned include OOP, DBMS, multithreading and OS concepts. Interviewers reportedly valued approach and communication.
Candidates with offers report a second technical round that mostly walks through the resume and projects, probing how things work internally and what decisions were made. Conceptual questions, such as garbage collection in C++, may also come up. Expect to explain every listed project clearly.
One senior candidate reports that the technical conversation moved to topics not on the resume. These included an iterative minimum-cost array solution, Snowflake-style sharing of large files, Kubernetes host port mapping and Nginx reverse proxies. This appears in a single report, so it may not apply to every level or team.
The two candidates who received offers describe an HR round on motivation, and one also mentions teamwork and handling pressure. An internship candidate reports an earlier HR phone screen about MSCI's business, then a department panel that focused on ESG experience. Prepare a specific answer on why MSCI and its work appeals to you.
