Microsoft Program Manager II Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated Nov 14, 2011 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 10 ratings 
“Difficult” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 10 ratings
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| 1–10 of 10 Microsoft Interviews | Sort by |
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Nov 14, 2011
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2011 in Seattle, WA (took a day)
The interviewer is very friendly, he asked two questions, one is problem solving and the other is design problem: 1. what is the angle between minute hand and hour hand when time is x hour and y minute. 2. Design the expedia for airport. These are all traditional interview questions and the second round for the PM intern position is on-site interview at Seattle headquarter. Microsoft is a very generous company!
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Mar 21, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2008 (took 3+ weeks)
It all started with a phone interview from an HR person. She asked me some simple HR questions. Very typical.
Then I was called for in person interviews on campus and this was not so easy. Lot of design questions and questions probing interpersonal skills. This was a hectic day. It started at 9 AM in the morning and went on for 8 hours. Had break for an hour in the morning and then again for lunch.
They sent an employee for lunch with me and he was a great guy to talk to.
Microsoft cafeterias are good but not the best I have seen. They make sure that you get exhaused by the end of the day :)
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Mar 19, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2008 in Redmond, WA (took a day)
Phone screen with the recruiter was primarily around scheduling. Interview was the standard day long affair with a good hour and a half spent waiting in the lobby due to scheduling problems. I find that to be fairly tacky, I'd never allow it for my candidates, but that is how Microsoft does things.
Interviews were fairly easy, some design questions which are typically won by having a good stream of ideas and the ability to defend some of the ideas (I don't think most interviewers consider it a bad thing if you reject one of your own ideas).
Interviewers would sometimes throw random analytical problems at me as a response to something I'd said. For example, we were talking about ordering of search results and he asked out of the blue how many possible orderings there were of a list of n search results (hint: n!).
Microsoft interview feedback is all sent immediately upon completion of the interview so the following interviews sometimes touched on information in the previous ones (also: it is important to do well on the first few because their hire/no-hire suggestions will influence following interview results).
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
After reviewing their salary curve (it has been leaked on line) and talking to people currently employed there, I decided the salary was as good as I'd get so asked for a higher signing bonus which they agreed to within hours. Perhaps I should have asked for more.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Nov 6, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2009 in Hyderabad (India) (took 6 months)
The overall hiring process was really time consuming and interview dates were changed many times during the whole process. The venue in NCR was OK. I was finally called for a full day interview to their Hyderabad office. Types of questions asked in the interview were really open ended in nature and some where related to real-life with no right or wrong answer. They mostly probed on the thought process, ability to cover different aspects of the problem. Though the event was not well planned in terms of managing time but overall I consider this a good experience.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I was not able to negotiate as they were practically not open for negotiations.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Oct 7, 2009
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2007 in Redmond, WA (took 2+ weeks)
Very straightforward, but that was only my experience as a mid-career new hire.
As I understand from others, the interview process can be very tricky.
The best way to get a position here is to start as a paid intern and spend a summer working on real projects.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Jul 12, 2009
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2007 in New York, NY (took a day)
Three interviews scheduled ahead of time with a list of names and titles given in advance. At the end of the third interview I was told there would be a fourth and final interview. Each interview lasted about an hour and it helped to have some snacks and soda throughout the day for stamina. Lot's of general program manager'ish type questions and it helped that I read The Zen of Program Management in advance to answer these. Not too many logic or case study type questions.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Received an additional $5,000.00 after holding back a few days on accepting the offer.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted May 18, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2008 (took 5 weeks)
Company was very slow in decision-making. The interview was a pretty standard combination of behavioral and min-case.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
They were firm on their offer. I was able to negotiate a little extra in signing bonus.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Presentation.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Apr 12, 2009
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2009 in Redmond, WA (took 2 days)
I had 6 interviews, 5 during the first day and then a last one called "as appropriate". The last one means you basically passed the interview process and get a chance to get to know the GM of the unit to ask some though questions (both ways).
The questions during the interview ranged from behavioral skills to technical details. It wasn't uncommon to talk about past experiences and challenges, reasons to join the group, design scenarios and coding challenges.
Overall I felt the interview very professional and timely.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Yes. Microsoft has deep pockets and has a very wide range of negotiation possibilities (stock awards, signing bonus, salary, etc)
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Mar 16, 2009 — 2 of 2 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Aug 2008 in Seattle, WA (took 2 days)
The interviews over the phone and face to face were smooth, but quite tiring. I had 5 interviews face to face in Redmond, and I was asked technical (pseudo code) and program management questions. I talked with developers, testers, and PMs. The interviewers were very friendly, and were able to feel relaxed, helping me to answer questions more clearly.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I found out that you cannot negotiate extra vacation days, since I was told it is company policy. Not sure if that was just in my case, since some other folks told me that they were able to get more days.
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Program Manager II at Microsoft
Posted Mar 19, 2009
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Aug 2008 in Redmond, WA (took 5 days)
It was good. i did a phone interview with the hiring manager and we decide to setup VTC (Video Telecom Conference) and I finished the interview remotely with the hiring manager, a test lead , 2 senior level manager
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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