I applied through a recruiter. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft
Interview
My interview began at 9am at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA. I had three interviews scheduled before the lunch break and three interviews after.
All the interviews were standard - straightforward whiteboard coding or brainteasers. Many of my interviews ran over time (one ran 45 mins over). I ended up not having time for lunch at all - my previous interview had run over and only half an hour of time had been scheduled, so I had 15 mins to purchase lunch in the lobby and run back upstairs to make the next interview. I would advise other candidates to bring their own lunches - the cafe was extremely crowded and it took me the entire 15 mins to get food and pay.
I didn't have a complete schedule for the day, so I was unable to give the name of my next interviewer to the receptionist and ended up waiting in the lobby until my interviewer eventually came out to investigate.
Since my interviews had run over time, my day was extended by an hour and I did the final coding interview after my meeting with the hiring manager (which was supposed to be the end of the day).
I would encourage other candidates to brush up on their basic coding skills (string manipulation etc.) and brainteasers - the interviews were not design heavy. I would also encourage candidates to get a copy of their schedules in advance in case things go awry as security is very tight in the building. If I were to interview again, I would also bring snacks just in case.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was asked some brainteasers taken nearly word-for-word from "How Would You Move Mount Fuji?" which I found surprising.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Herzliya) in Nov 2014
Interview
I applied through Microsoft's web-site, got a phone call telling me about the process.
First interview- Technical:
great atmosphere, after I introduced myself and heard about the position I was asked few questions:
1) find the first node where 2 linked lists are merging into O(n) (has no circles).
answer: run 2 times on each list to find sizes, the bigger minus the smaller gives you the difference, on the longer list go the difference and then move them both in sync until they are equal.
2) print and transfer BST between 2 computers
answer: use delimiter and print in order, read the file node then left child, every time you see delimiter go up 1 level print right child and then all of his left childs.
3) write code for ATM system, then what happens when you have 2 ATMs at the same time (sync with locks).
second interview- Technical:
again after I told about myself and heard more about the position, i was asked to go on the white board and design code for Domino game system. created the classes on board, main methods and was asked to actually implement few methods.
Third interview- HR:
Was very easy and ordinary, why you want to work for Microsoft, what are you looking for, what would your current manager tell about you and blah blah...
Forth interview- AA interview:
Failed here.
it is the last step before you get a proposal.
Again we started with me telling about myself, former projects I did in my current job (i couldn't tell much because of confidential information). we talked about a project I did during my degree.
for unknown reason he started to ask me wired questions like how much memory is integer, i said (2^32-1) so he asked me how much is int[3000][3000] in memory.
i wrote down the equation so he asked me to transfer it to MB's, and i didn't remember the exact numbers since i started to feel a bad feeling about this.
then he asked me to give him a run time of merge sort (which i remembered is O(nlogn)) but he seems not to be thrilled about it.
4 days later i got a call that told me that i am not fit for this position, it really felt like it was personal, but there was not much that i could do about it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
how much memory is int[3000][3000] in bytes and then in MB's.
should this size of memory be allocated or static?
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft
Interview
I applied online. Got interview appointment in 3 weeks. I did interview over phone interview. First questions on your projects, then coding questions. The phone interview lasts for 30 minutes.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
There were some basic data structure like implementing merge as in merge sort and reversing a string etc. One behavioral question on "why do you choose microsoft". Interviewers were very nice and good experience. was my very first tech interview.