I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Jun 2015
Interview
Had an initial interview with a recruiter. Then had a tech screen (phone interview), followed by an on-site interview with 3 engineering leads followed by an interview by the manager. Happened on Friday, got the offer on following Monday.
Incredibly professional, engaging and challenging. Learnt quite a bit about myself in the process. Got to give it to Microsoft!
From the arrangements (Flight/Hotel etc.) to the actual interviews, it was a genuine pleasure. Highly recommend the experience.
Interview questions [5]
Question 1
Questions on design patterns. Design system for a hypothetical e-commerce store...entities...design it to be distributed.
Print a matrix in spiral fashion...so
Matrix input example (Arrows indicate how the spiral happens...start at first arrow go in circle and move to next arrow...etc.)
->1 1 1 1 1
1 -> 2 2 2 1
1 2 2 2 1
1 1 1 1 1
Output: 11111111111111222222
a) Develop a XML parser (rules: Node closures and single root node..i.e. root node cannot be duplicated in structure).
b) Count occurrences of words in a string (with string too large to be processed in memory).
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Dec 2014
Interview
Normal phone screening first and then the full interview loop. Completed three rounds which comprises of all algorithms on linked list and binary search tree in the first two interviews and then in the third interview about the design question.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Microsoft (Bengaluru) in Jan 2015
Interview
Interview was easy. There were 5 round of interviews including final HR round. Offer was 100% hike but final offer made by them was for SDET role and I had applied for SDE. Hence rejected the offer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Create a word suggesting application as mobile messaging works.