Microsoft Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details My first interview was a brief phone screening which was just about me and my projects.

I was then invited to join an online group meeting on Microsoft Lync which is similar to Skype, during which a member of HR spoke to all candidates. They discussed the next interview process and answered any questions asked by the candidates (there were about 35 candidates).

A date and time was allocated by follow-up email for each of us to attend the interview in the Sydney Office. On my interview day, there was a total of 5 interviewers (all senior members of the Microsoft team), and 5 interviewees. We each received 3-4, 1on1 interviews in separate rooms, rotating between the interviewers. A decision may be made after 3 interviews or you may be given a final 4th interview if needed.

I went through a total of 4 interviews, 45 minutes each with 15 minute break in-between. The breaks were spent with the other candidates and a member of the HR who discussed about Microsoft’s work and workplace.

The interviews generally went like so:
First 5-15 minutes:
• The interviewer introduces themselves and their job.
• Asks about you, your projects and your past work (basically your resume).
Next 25-35 minutes:
• Interviewer gives you 1-2 problems, you are to provide your implementation on the white board.
• Interviewer asks you to give test cases to your implementation.
Final 5 minutes:
• Any questions you may have for the interviewer.

My Interview Questions:
1. Write a function to determine if a string is a Palindrome
2.
    a. Give a list of expected functionality for the “Linked List” data structure
    b. Write a function to reverse a Linked List
3.
    a. Write a function to determine if a number is prime.
    b. Write a function to reverse an integer (i.e. 123 = 321), with O(1) space complexity.
    c. Write a function to round a float to the nearest integer (i.e. 3.14 = 3, 3.56 = 4).
4. Write a function to print all paths of a binary tree to a certain depth/length.
Example,
Input:
The following binary tree, searching to a depth of 3
      5
     / \
  3 7
 / \ / \
1 2 5 8

Output:
5-3-1
5-3-2
5-7-5
5-7-8

Interview Details Submitting resume at campus recruiting. Two stages. Interviewing with one HR officer and one technical officer. Question includes why Microsoft, what makes good code/bad code, your favourite coding languages, puzzles. Technical questions involve how you deal with problems while coding, arrays, queue implementation .... More thorough technical interview in the final round.

Interview Details 1 round is phone interview, asking your past experience, basics in C/C++, the difference between C++ and Java, and how to identify a heavier ball in 12 ball in 3 times. 2nd round is a on-site interview. you will meet with 3~4 interviewers during the day, first one asked me how to calculate the sum of a binary tree at certain level, second asked me to write how to check if a string is a palindrome. Third one is to about the Tic-Tak-Toe game, write a function to check if someone has won at the current board situation.

Interview Details I applied via seek.com.au website for Microsfot Sales Intern position.
Based on my resume and cover letter, I received a call from the recruiting team for a Phone internview.

Interview Details Full day of interviews. Do your research beforehand by reading up on the oldest Executives LinkedIn profiles so you know how to stroke their ego during the interview.

Interview Details I got the interview through university career events applications. I guess you have a better chance than applying online if you apply through your university. The interview had 2 rounds; the first round was mostly about my background and what I like and dont like about microsoft and how can I improve it. In addition to some technical questions and some design questions like design a clock for blind users.

Interview Details Contacted directly by HR Recruiter on recommendation of another employee.
Drove 4 hours to Sydney for an interview at 9.30am. No breaks till 5.45pm when I asked could I possibly have a glass of water?

Sat through 6 or 7 interviews in a row, I can't quite remember. But they varied from deeply technical to psychological in nature.

Negotiation Details – It was "take it or leave it"

Interview Details Overall a professional interview experience. People were very friendly. Questions for each interviewer focused on a Microsoft competency. Examples include influence - how do you go about influencing people you have no control over but depend upon for an outcome? Always had to use examples of when you had done something in your career that met that competency. MSFT is very big and very matrixed which they realize is a problem for many people, so it's a focus of their interviews to be sure you can work in that environment.

Interview Details Microsoft in Australia is very different to US Microsoft in their hiring practices and culture. I spent a lot of time researching their interview techniques but ended up with the feeling that I knew better about Microsoft interviewing techniques than the people who were interviewing me. I was interviewed 8 times over 9 weeks for two different roles and was offered a role verbally by hiring manager in week 5 which was retracted the same day (I was told it was a miscommunication). Later I was put into another interview loop. They did offer eventually after 9 weeks.

Remember the following:

- You can be interviewed as many times as they like. Unlike US where all interviews happen in one day, Microsoft AU will keep bringing you back on separate days. Think about investing 7-8 days of your job search for just one company.

- There is no thing such as an 'interview loop' in Microsoft Australia - don't be misled by information on US websites. Interviewers are not expected to hand in 'hire/no hire' decision at the end of each interview. This allows hiring managers to use their influence on the process and candidates generally get hired if they are 'liked' by hiring managers rather than on their interview loop performance. .

- Generally, you will spend 2-3 days preparing for an interview and then up to a week waiting to hear from them and this goes on for 8-9 weeks. Be ready to make a lot of excuses to your current boss on 24-48 hour notices to attend weekly Microsoft interviews.

- Because they are aware of their mysterious process and fear that candidates will refuse to put up with their unreasonable demands, they drop a love bomb on you when you first start interviewing. As long as you are in the process, you will be told that you are the best candidate they ever dreamt off. Don't be flattered as they are telling the same story to everyone else in the loop and as soon as they start 'liking' someone else better than you, they won't even bother picking up the phone and sharing the outcome with you. When they retracted first offer, I was told that they can't even provide feedback with rejected candidates and then they suddenly fell in love with me again after two weeks.

- Microsoft uses contract recruiters in Australia who are completely disengaged from the process and their job is just to schedule appointments. They hate their jobs and it is very obvious from their attitudes. Always feel free to negotiate with them and ask for updates as often as you can - they have no 'say' in the process and I found them equally frustrated by the random ways of hiring managers.

- Microsoft interviewers vary in their ability and engagement. I had some great interviews and some really bad ones. One recruiter kept checking his emails during the interview and another kept me waiting in the lobby for 45 minutes and tried to give me the impression that he was testing my patience - he then rushed through the interview as he was getting late for lunch.

In general, they don't care about you as a candidate and demonstrate utter disrespect at times. They think they can get away with all that because of Microsoft brand but in the process end up loosing good candidates to competitors.

Tips:

1) Expect to spend reasonable time in the process. If you are working full time, this could mean taking half a day off every week for 1-2 months. Allow yourself plenty of time as their visitor parking is generally full and it is hard to find parking in the area.

2) Keep reminding yourself that at any point your chances of getting a job are 0%. Don't have any hopes regardless of what you are being told. DO NOT BELIEVE THEM - they want to distract you from your recruitment processes elsewhere by raising your hopes but they are telling these stories to everyone and may be end up not hiring anyone or most likely go for an internal candidate.

3) Demand to know up front the extent of process. I was told it was just going to be three interviews in total and I ended up interviewing 8 times.

4) Any information that you find on Microsoft interviewing on GlassDoor is irrelevant to Australian process - don't bother wasting your time.

5) Don't expect to hear back in 48 hours after each interview and get an offer after one day of interviewing - welcome to Australia.

6) Don't expect feedback - if it has been more than a week since your last interview without being called, this is your feedback 'The Microsoft WAY' that you didn't get the job.

Hope this is useful to future candidates!

Power to the candidates and wish you all good luck!!!

Reason for Declining – I didn't find Microsoft to be an ethical and responsible prospective employer. From the interview process, it was evident that they had a lot of bureaucracy and decisions were made on 'personal likes/dislikes' instead of following a logical process. I was a fan of real 'Microsoft interview process' through my research long before applying and was aware of Microsoft using this that great framework to improve Education industry in the US and if one of their own subsidiaries is not using a great system which Microsoft thinks everyone should use, there must be something unusual with the culture of that subsidiary.