On 2026-10-08 all five Leap pathways (Cloud, Data, Design, Engineering, Product/Program Management) display 'Not currently accepting applications'; the FAQ says application dates are announced only on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. source
Microsoft Leap is a paid 16-week apprenticeship for people with some technical training who did not take the conventional degree route, run as cohorts on real Microsoft product teams. It suits bootcamp graduates and career changers who can commit full-time and already code. Before you plan around it, check whether a pathway is actually accepting applications; all five were closed at the time of this check.
The facts
| Category | Returnships and apprenticeships, Software engineering, Cloud and DevOps, Data engineering and analytics |
|---|---|
| Website | leap.microsoft.com |
| Based | Redmond, WA · founded 2015 |
| Format | in-person |
| Programs | Engineering, Cloud, Data, Design, Product/Program Management |
| Length | 16 weeks ('Full-time, 16-week immersive experience' per the FAQ; cohort locations change with business needs.) verified |
| Tuition | $0 Paid apprenticeship: FAQ says 'Yes, participants are paid' and 'participants are offered health insurance'. Pay figure not published. Participants are 'sponsored by Microsoft or one of our partner companies', so the employer of record may be a vendor. verified |
| Financing | free, employer No tuition. Paid, with health insurance, for the 16 weeks. 'While participants are not guaranteed employment with Microsoft, 98% of graduates accept positions within the technology industry' (FAQ). Work authorization in the cohort country required; no immigration sponsorship. |
| Admission | competitive Written application with questions that are not shared in advance, then a declination letter or interview invitation. Aimed at people with a 'base foundation of technical training' and non-traditional backgrounds. |
| Hiring partners (claimed) | Microsoft claimed |
Outcomes
Placement: 98% of graduates accept positions within the technology industry. reported source
Interview-prep depth
The syllabus is not public in enough detail to score. The program places apprentices on product teams (Azure, Xbox, Bing, Office 365 are named) with classroom learning; no career-services syllabus, mock-interview or negotiation content is published.
Job support: light. The program places apprentices on product teams (Azure, Xbox, Bing, Office 365 are named) with classroom learning; no career-services syllabus, mock-interview or negotiation content is published.
Whatever the program covers, the interview itself is free to prepare for here: coding patterns, system design, practice prompts, company guides.
What a careful reader should know
Employer of record varies: the FAQ says participants are sponsored by Microsoft or a partner company, which in practice can mean a staffing vendor's payroll rather than Microsoft's. The 98% figure has no date or methodology. The pathways page shows technical 'Liquid error' messages where pathway descriptions should be, and no application window has been posted as of this check.
This directory takes no lead fees or placement payments from any program. Where a program runs an affiliate scheme we say so on its page and mark the link. Facts carry a badge: verified means we read it on a primary source on the date shown, reported means a third party said it, unknown means nobody we trust has published it.
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