My Interview Experience at Microsoft

Since I received many messages regarding my interview experience and the mistakes I made, I thought of sharing the complete procedure and my first interview encounter here on my site.

How I got this opportunity? Microsoft visited our campus for diversity hiring, which opened doors for candidates from all branches.

ROUND 1: Online Assessment (O.A.)

Date: 26/07/2023

The online assessment was a 2-hour round comprising two coding questions:

Question 1: Given a board with some rows and columns, we needed to find the minimum number of replacements needed to balance the board.

Question 2: We were given a string and had to return the integer number of insertions required to place a '$' character between every two occurrences of the same letter.

Both questions demanded a strong understanding of Strings in Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA). The second question was relatively easier, and I managed to complete both within an hour.

The results were announced the very next day, and I was among the 42 students shortlisted for the interview scheduled on 1st August.

How did I prepare for the interview?

I thoroughly revised all the essential DSA topics and solved 30 critical interview questions from each topic. Since I was confident in my communication skills and fluency in English, I didn't focus much on that aspect. However, I recommend others who lack confidence to work on their communication skills as well.

Finally, the day of the interview arrived.

INTERVIEW ROUND:

Date: 01/08/2023

ROUND 1:

My interview was scheduled at 1:30 pm on MS Teams, the list of slots and the meeting link were shared a day prior to the interview.

The session commenced with my introduction, followed by a DSA question on Doubly Linked Lists.

I explained my approach and then coded the solution while thinking aloud before typing each line.

We delved into various edge cases and improved my code.

The interviewer asked me to identify where I went wrong, and I correctly guessed the mistake, impressing him with my logical thinking and communication skills.

As a result, I was shortlisted for the next round.

ROUND 2:

(after 1/2 an hour from Round 1)

Out of the 42 shortlisted students, only the top 16 were selected for this round.

It began with introductions, and the interviewer made the environment friendly and welcoming, putting me at ease.

He asked me to distinguish between arrays and vectors, and when I answered correctly, he requested me to code an array with dynamic memory allocation , functioning like a vector.

We had a fruitful discussion, and I managed to code it accurately, leaving a positive impression.

Since I had mentioned my proficiency in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) in my resume, he asked questions about Polymorphism, Inheritance, and also requested me to code function overriding.

My responses satisfied him, and he moved on to Multithreading, which wasn't part of our syllabus, but I handled it well due to my prior research during interview preparation.

Additionally, he asked me to incorporate file handling, which I had mentioned in my resume.

My correct implementation impressed him, and he complimented my skills in this area.

We also discussed behavioral questions, why I wanted to join Microsoft, and other related topics.

At the end, he encouraged me to ask him questions, and I inquired about Microsoft projects and sought his advice. He responded with, "Enjoy every moment of your life,"

and thus concluded Interview Round 2.

RESULTS:

The results were announced the day after the interview, and I was not selected.

Since it was diversity hiring, they aimed to take two students from each branch with the highest CGPA.

Although the outcome was disheartening, it motivated me to work harder on myself and improve my CGPA (currently 8.2).

LEARNINGS:

1> One advice I would give to my juniors is to work diligently on maintaining their CGPA.

While I have seen students prioritize coding practice over academics, the reality is that you need to excel in both coding and academics.

Your CGPA may not directly reflect your coding skills, but it does showcase your hard work and discipline as a student.

2>Furthermore, I recommend broadening your knowledge beyond academics and exploring other topics. My experience of receiving a multithreading question during the interview, which I handled with my additional knowledge, emphasizes the importance of expanding your skillset.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE:

Overall, the interview experience was fantastic,

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to interview with Microsoft.

I cannot overlook the motivation and support I received from my seniors, friends, and my mother throughout the process.

As this was my first interview ever, I eagerly look forward to seizing future opportunities and leveraging this experience.