Microsoft Interview Process
Decoding the interview process at Microsoft
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Do you looking for a Job at Microsoft but don’t know what the process looks like? If so, you’re in luck! In this blog post, we will discuss the Microsoft Interview process with some expert advice.
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge.” — H. Stanley Judd
Well, I know that you already know about Microsoft and there is no introduction required to this Giant. But before understanding the Interview process of Microsoft, let’s know about Microsoft.
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation that produces computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975
Its best-known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers.
Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface lineup of touchscreen personal computers. Microsoft ranked No. 21 in the 2020 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue; it was the world’s largest software maker by revenue as of 2016. It is one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, and Meta (Facebook).
Why Microsoft?
I believe why you should choose Microsoft, nobody inform better than the current or ex-employee of Microsoft. So let’s see What Microsoft People a Say
Disclaimer: This information was sourced from reviews originally posted on Glassdoor.
Surrounded by brilliant people, work on projects with major impact, work with people from around the world. Corporate structure, sometimes slow to move or change direction, promotion is not necessarily about merit, job is often all-consuming. Be more generous with health benefits. Increase pay. Allow teams to take more chances. Practice what you preach about “work/life balance
Awesome place to work. It’s great to be a part of Microsoft. it’s a very happening place. Also, you can work from anywhere. It has important features for collaboration. Provides access to the latest versions of Office apps. Enhanced security features. Work with what you know
Very good learning environment. You can get to work on any newest technology, provided you have that interest inside you. Good support from the leadership in maintaining your work-life balance.
Interview Process
After watching the video, I believe you have a strong reason to join Microsoft. So now we will go through the interview process of Microsoft. We will see here the hiring process of Microsoft.
We will also cover some tips that might help you in preparation. We will cover commonly asked Microsoft questions in another blog post to avoid making this post large.
1. Call with Recruiter (PreScreen with a recruiter):
If your resume passes the screening, a recruiter will reach out to you either via email or LinkedIn to schedule a call. This telephonic call will be an initial call with recruiters. The recruiter will give you a proper time and schedule the call according to your choice; assuming you’re brushed up on your coding skills and technical knowledge.
Advice: You should schedule the phone call as soon as possible.
2. Interview Rounds:
Interview rounds start with a pre-screening which is based on your resumes and DS/Algo-based questions. The later technical rounds become more technical and focus on system design knowledge or DS/Algo skills.
preScreen with a recruiter:
This will be the first round where they will ask about yourself. They will also go through your resumes ask the questions. They also ask some behavioral questions on the basis of your experience.
The pre-screen round is conducted to see if the candidate is a good fit for Microsoft or Not. They also might ask some coding questions related to DS/Algo. The time span of this interview is between 30~45 minutes.
Onsite Interviews(4-5 Rounds)
Now series of interviews are conducted. The initial few rounds are based on DS/Algo and later will be based on system design. So you must prepare yourself for data structure and algorithms mostly questions are related to Array, strings, LinkedList and Binarytrees, and graphs. In system design, they might ask you to design an ATM, elevator, or parking system.
So before scheduling the interview don’t forget to revise some important topics like Complexity Analysis (a.k.a BigO), Linked List, Arrays, Sorting, Queues, Stacks, Trees, Tries, Graphs (BFS and DFS), Hash Tables, Heaps, Searching,..etc.
You can check the following useful resources:
3. After Interviews:
At this stage, you can expect to hear from your recruiter within a week. They judge you on the basis of all your past interviews. All of the interviewers hold a meeting and discuss and debate the ratings of candidates with the hiring manager.
4. THE OFFER / no offer:
If everything goes well, they will approach you, at which point they’ll make you an offer, send you documents to sign, and discuss any further questions you have. At this stage, you can negotiate your perks. Once everything is completed, the offer letter is prepared and shared with you by the recruiters, and you are HIRED!
On the other hand, if you don’t receive an offer, then you have to wait 6 months to a year to re-apply. If you want you can apply for a different position that might reduce the waiting period.
You can see the video which is very informative and help you in preparation.