I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA) in Feb 2015
Interview
The first interview I had was with a college recruiter, which went well. It was more behavioral in nature. I was contacted back about a month later and told I had the opportunity for a second-round interview at their headquarters in Seattle. There were four interviews asking about coding questions. I feel the first interview was the most important and I hear this is how they gauge your skill level and will communicate this to your next interviewers.
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Melbourne)
Interview
After submitting an online application, I received a HackerRank assessment after passing the resume screening stage, then I was rejected after completing the assessment and did not proceed to further interview rounds.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The assessment consisted of two LeetCode-medium-level coding questions to be completed within 75 minutes.
45 mins technical interview with a member of their San fran team. Very relaxed and informal but questions were focused and lots of follow ups. Easy to schedule as was over video conferencing platform
Straightforward technical loop overall, with strong interviewers at every stage. I genuinely enjoyed the in-depth conversations around technical challenges and algorithmic problem-solving — the entire process felt well-structured and genuinely engaging.