Coding interview: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:44, 16 January 2007

Revision as of 09:04, 3 February 2007

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The second-round interview is held on Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, Washington. Candidates interviewing for the program manager position can be expected to answer detailed design questions that test the candidate's creative ability as well the attention that he/she pays to designing customer-centric products. The candidate is expected to provide reasons for features added to products designed and include explanations as to why a customer might want or need a particular feature. Candidates interviewing for the SDE and SDET positions can be expected to answer detailed coding and algorithm questions as well. Many of the questions asked of the candidate are purposely ambiguous and/or abstract. It is expected that the candidate ask thought-provoking questions of the interviewer in order to better answer the question. The candidate is normally given a marker, eraser, and a whiteboard to record his/her solutions and ideas to questions. The purpose is to allow the interviewer to observe how the candidate attempts to solve a problem and to follow the candidate's thought processes.

The interview day usually comprises of meeting with about three to five different employees within Microsoft. A typical schedule might include two interviews in the morning, one lunch interview, and two interviews in the afternoon. The lunch interview can take place in one of Microsoft's various in-house cafeterias or in a restaurant off-campus. In most cases the

candidate will interview with two different product teams within a single product group or two entirely different product groups (FAQ 2006). It depends on the current business needs of Microsoft at the time of the interview and which needs best fit the candidate's skill set and interests. The candidate is notified on the day of the interview as to which position he/she will be interviewing for. This is generally the case if the candidate is interviewing for Software Design Engineer, Software Design Engineer in Test, or Program Manager Positions.

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*[http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=18472 "Channel9 video walkthrough of a typical second-round interview"] led by Microsoft recruiters

*[http://blogs.msdn.com/jobsblog/ "The Jobs Blog managed by Microsoft recruiters"]

[[Category:Microsoft culture]]

[[Category:Evaluation methods]]