Microsoft is "building pipelines". Recruiter reached out saying they're not hiring. It was a big disappointment and waste of time. This should be clear up front to avoid wasting time on both sides.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Reston, VA) in Feb 2024
Interview
I was invited to a half day interview containing three separate interviews. It's basically a one and done process. The scheduling was an absolute disaster. They reached out to me at the end of January. I responded the same day with everything they needed. They never responded, even when I responded to the same email chain twice asking about the status. Three weeks later, the same recruiter sent me the same canned email as if he had never met me. I responded the same day again. Two days later, he responded and asked if I could interview two days later for a half day interview. I was on vacation overseas and said I could make it work, but I would really appreciate it if they could accommodate the following Monday. He got back to me a day or two later and said the next Tuesday was fine. The day before the interview, he asked for a pre-interview call. I got on with him, and he told me I hadn't responded quickly enough to their requests and they weren't able to interview me afterall! I had already spent 6 hours preparing for the interview, which was supposed to be the next day. I had also wasted three partial vacation days responding to their requests for documentation. I complained, and surprisingly, someone heard it. They reassigned a new recruiter (but who knows what my chances were at this point) and offered me an interview even though interviews were already over. The interview was ultimately unsuccessful, but I felt like it was all making motions at that point anyway. On my end, showing up was basically just to get experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you experienced a major organizational change.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Kuala Lumpur) in Dec 2021
Interview
The interview can go upto 4 levels. Evaluate different aspects - stakeholder management, handle conflicts, technical skills, industry knowledge , problem solving, business communication, Interviewer can be from different level , hiring manager, 2 level up