Microsoft Program Manager Internship Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Feb 2011 in Mountain View, CA (took a day)

The interview was short -- about 30 minutes -- and seemed to be judged on two main things:
1) Basic Java skills. The question I got was about taking out duplicate characters in a string of lowercase letters. Then, once I gave an answer, the followup question was how I would make it more efficient. Then, I was asked about 6 different test cases I would use to see if the code was correct, and the outcome of those test cases based on my code.
2) In-depth questions I asked about Microsoft.

For 1), you really do need to talk out your thought process. I'm not excellent at coding, but by talking about my code and showing that I understand the concepts/coding paradigms/security risks, I was able to show that I have a solid understanding.

For 2), really research Microsoft's lesser known products...beyond Microsoft Office Suite. Look at Photosynth, their web security Sandbox technology, etc etc. Try looking around TechCrunch and find some current info to bring up with your interviewer, too. They really like to see that you have a wide range of knowledge about all the cool things Microsoft is doing.

In the end, I got a final round interview...but they took an extremely long time to schedule it (we're talking over a month) despite my emails in between. I ended up taking an internship position elsewhere.