I recently interviewed for an SDE II position at Microsoft but unexpectedly received an offer as a Senior SDE. What are some of the expectation and performance differences between the levels, and should I be concerned at all about accepting a position at a higher level than I was aiming for? I have ~ 5 years of professional experience across software development, systems engineering, and managing an IT team.
Good for you! I was interviewed for sde2 but got offer for sde1 at Amazon.
I think the major difference is dealing with ambiguity. Senior SDE should be able to analyze and make problems actionable (but not necessarily solvable).
Senior level is expected to drive small focused projects by themselves with little to no supervision or help. Tackle complex problems write decent specs communicate relatively well. Sde 2 is more like assign a set of clearly scoped tasks and grind out the code.
Might be helpful to check out http://levels.fyi
Senior has 15% target bonus instead of 10%, and more stock refreshers than SDE II (although all levels still have significantly stock than some other companies).
Pleasant surprises are always good.