I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Microsoft
Interview
Found job on Microsoft.com. Applied with a referral from a current Microsoft employee (this makes a Big difference in your paper read - referrals generally go direct to the hiring manager; HR/recruiting are basically managing logistics in the hiring process assigned recruiter will screen to confirm info on resume, your confidence and verbal presentation skiills over-the-phone and compensation expectations. If you make initial cut and are invited to interview, your interview loop will be a 1-day event with 4-5 individual meetings of 30 - 60 minutes each. You will hear the result usually within a week.
I was pressured to take a lower salary with a hiring bonus to meet my minimum total compensation target. I guess the idea was we want you, but you are going to have to prove you can perform in Microsoft. I was hired, conditional upon a background check which took 6-weeks for some reason.
A start date was established. I showed up for employee orientation (all day class) completed all new-hire paperwork. Showed up at my work location the next day. No one was expecting me! No computer, no office, and the manager I had been hired by had been promoted. I was assigned to one of his new direct reports (hired from within while I was waiting for background check to clear). So, I was placed in a shared office, 2 layers lower in the org chart than I had interviewed for. There were many apologies, I was told my role was the same, just new managment structure and that I could choose who I wanted to work for over the next 2-months.
I all worked out in the end, but not a good onboarding expereince.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Sketch the major elements of a mobile operator's infrastructure and explain the function of thoese elements.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Oct 2008
Interview
All day non-stop interviews after two separate telephone interviews. High-pressure, many questions that felt as though my brain was being raided for good ideas. I enjoyed the puzzle questions, but many wouldn't.
I found the overall ego of every person with whom I spoke rather off-putting. I understand being an elitist, as a software engineer working for some of the most desirable firms, I am honest enough to label myself as such. But the people I met at Microsoft projected such an air of entitled snobbery that I just didn't feel as though I wanted to work with them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"Is this just the GREATEST place you've ever BEEN!?!" (from the HR person)
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderabad) in Jan 2012
Interview
1 telephonic interview followed by 4-5 rounds of 1:1 interview in Company premises. Mostly design questions asked in each of the interviews. Some interviewers also asked mathematical question and very basic programming question. Rest of the interview was resume based.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Consider a lift lobby where people are waiting for the lift. Now when lift arrives people get in irrespective of who came first. Thus, the person who came first keeps waiting and others keep getting in. Design a lift system which can solve the problem of this person.