I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Atlanta, GA) in Mar 2022
Interview
Speaking to the interview specifically: It was a standard FAANG style interview. 1 pre-screen coding session online followed by 4 rounds, each with 1-2 behavioral questions followed by a technical question.
Each person i interviewed with was knowledgeable and friendly.
Its the recruiting process/post interview process that is atrocious.
After the interview rounds the email i received made it sound like i did well and they were just team matching at that point, but that was 2 months ago from the time of writing.
Excerpt from said email:
"you were an overall [Section Redacted] hire so we are just working out the details to find a team within [Section Redacted] that will best suite your experience and skillsets."
I received communication from the recruiter that someone wanted me on their team roughly a month after the interview rounds, but when the recruiter and I spoke he thought the hiring manager and I previously met. When i told him that was not the case he seemed confused and then cut the meeting. Attempts to follow up were not answered, and the technical sourcer also stopped answering.
Personally i think i would've rather been ghosted from the beginning instead of having the potential for a team dangled in front of me, it was a pretty disheartening experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Leetcode style questions, trending more toward easy/medium level.
The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Dublin, Dublin) in Feb 2022
Interview
There was a a couple hour code test, 3 back to back technical/behavioral interviews, 1 dev manager interview, 1 team dev manager interview, 2-3 recruiter offer negotiation discussions.
I was told up until the offer that I was applying for Senior but then they offer me SDE2. While the total compensation (stock/car allowance) and sign on bonus was a little more than what I am making, the base was over 20% less than what I am currently making. This results in a golden handcuffs (can’t go elsewhere). When I asked about promotion, there was not clear path for career development to senior.
Feedback to recruitment: be up front to candidates where they fit during the interview process and make your base salaries more competitive with the market. Also reduce the interview duration. It took over 4 months to finish the interview process.
They do 2 independent professional interviews,
Then interview with the team leader and the product manager. And then the discussion with the HR
All with Zoom.
They ask Normal questions not difficult.