Microsoft vs Google Graduate Scheme 2027: Which Should You Apply To?

“Be your authentic self, put your best foot forward and apply for that role!”

Oiza Sadiq, Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google, on applying. One person’s view of one role.
Source: Google blog

The Microsoft vs Google graduate scheme question has a twist: neither company runs a fixed UK graduate scheme with one opening and one closing date. Both hire early-career talent into individual roles, so the real choice is between two different routes. Microsoft hires into early-in-profession roles and then enrols qualifying hires in Aspire, a development programme. Google runs separate routes: the Associate Product Manager (APM) Program, the STEP internship and direct software engineering roles. Read our individual guides to the Microsoft graduate scheme and the Google graduate scheme for the full detail on each. If you want a fixed-cohort alternative, see Amazon vs Google and the Amazon graduate scheme.

Microsoft vs Google graduate scheme at a glance

The single biggest difference: dated route vs rolling roles

Google’s clearest live early-career route is dated: the London APM Intern posting opens on 5 October 2026 and closes before 13 November 2026, and selection is rolling, so waiting costs you. Microsoft has no equivalent graduate window. You watch its early-in-profession careers page, apply to a specific role when it appears, and Aspire follows if you start in a qualifying role. In short: with Google you plan around a calendar, with Microsoft you plan around alerts.

Microsoft vs Google graduate scheme 2027: pay compared

Neither company publishes a single graduate salary. The figures below are not like-for-like, so read them as signals, not a league table.

The Microsoft range comes from a single sales posting, not from a graduate scheme, so it does not tell you what a graduate engineer earns. Google’s numbers come from Glassdoor users, not from Google. Our own Amazon vs Google comparison uses the same Google figures. To see any salary after tax, use Debut’s Paycheck Calculator. See Microsoft’s UK pay and benefits page too, though we could not open it to read the detail.

What the job actually feels like

Both employers describe learning from people around you rather than sitting in a classroom. Microsoft says Aspire is built around immersive learning, mentorship and community events. Google’s reported APM route gives structured mentorship from senior product managers, and its marketing graduates describe a two-year rotational programme on Google’s own blog. For a Microsoft voice, the only named quote we found is from Chris Bishop of Microsoft Research Cambridge, who said in 2018 the lab was “keen to nurture the next generation of talent”. That was about a UK AI residency for graduates, a different programme, so read it as context, not a description of today’s hiring. Source: Microsoft UK Stories. We could not find a recent named Microsoft graduate quote, so we have not invented one.

Programme structure

Microsoft Graduate Scheme vs Google programme structure. Microsoft hires into a role first. Aspire is a 1+ year learning and development journey for new hires who meet its eligibility rules, and Microsoft says eligibility depends on hiring pathway, employee status and role. You cannot apply to Aspire directly. Google also hires role by role: APM is reported as an 18–24 month track with structured mentorship, STEP is a 10–12 week internship for first- and second-year students, and software engineer roles hire you straight into a team with no formal rotation.

Application process

How to apply. At Microsoft you create a profile on the careers site, apply to a role, complete an initial interview and, if selected, a final virtual interview with one-to-one meetings. Depending on the role you may be asked to write code or share a project. Microsoft’s hiring tips include preparation videos. At Google, candidates report five stages: online application, recruiter screen or online assessment, technical phone screen, a loop of 2–4 rounds, then a separate hiring committee, which is why the process can run 8–12 weeks. The five-stage detail is reported by candidates on Glassdoor, not published by Google. Google’s how we hire page loads with JavaScript, so we could not read it in full. For general habits, see our assessment centre guide and survival guide, and make your CV readable with our ATS-friendly resume guide.

Locations

Google’s UK base is London, split across 6 Pancras Square and the new King’s Cross HQ, Platform 37, which will eventually house up to 7,000 staff (ianVisits). Microsoft’s postings state the location each time. Our one live example, the Account Executive role, is London-based with three days a week in the office, but that is one role, so check yours.

Deadlines

Google’s London APM Intern for Summer 2027 closes before 13 November 2026. STEP typically opens around September to October, and direct software engineer roles post and close on a rolling basis, often within a week. Microsoft has no graduate deadline: each posting sets its own, so set job alerts on the careers site or join its Talent Network.

Benefits

Google lists health insurance, an employee assistance programme, enhanced parental leave, flexible working, childcare support and educational reimbursement, plus GSU equity (Prosple UK). For Microsoft, benefits sit on its UK pay and benefits page and in each posting, so confirm them in your offer.

A word from people already doing the job

Oiza Sadiq’s advice at Google is to be your authentic self and apply. Chris Bishop’s quote is about Microsoft Research hiring graduates in 2018, not about Aspire. Both are single views. We have not found two like-for-like quotes from current graduates on each side, and we would rather say so than invent them.

Microsoft vs Google graduate scheme 2027: which one should you apply to?

Choose Google if you are a penultimate or final-year student in EMEA with the right to work, you want a defined route with a deadline, and you are aiming at product or software roles where the reported pay is highest. Choose Microsoft if you want to apply role by role across engineering, product, marketing, technical support, data science or customer success, and you prefer to move when a role opens rather than around one window. Many applicants apply to both. For other tech options, compare IBM, Amazon and BT, or browse the full Graduate Scheme hub.

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