I applied through a recruiter. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Toronto, ON) in Jan 2013
Interview
The Interview Process was a long one. Microsoft has a culture of expecting employees to fill-in for roles that are vacant, and thus do not proceed with a sense of urgency to fill the role. They have a much greater focus on selecting the right fit for Microsoft. Each interview was a progression, moving from technical depth of knowledge, to marketing experience, to personal and cultural fit.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about a previous Product Launch. Was it successful? What key metrics did you measure? What lessons did you learn? What are the key activities you orchestrated prior to launch? What was your budget?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Microsoft in Oct 2016
Interview
They were doing mass interviews in Austin - looking for a variety of students to fill front facing technology roles. I was first interviewed at a career fair which was just a resume interview. Then they flew me to Texas for a series of interviews (3 total) one of which included a presentation on anything you were passionate about.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What kind of software would you use for project management?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Nov 2016
Interview
I applied via the MSFT careers site, and then was referred by an FTE. Since I had an internal referral, they bypassed the phone interview and I went straight in for a full round of in-person interviews; I interviewed with five people in five separate one-on-one sessions over the course of about seven hours. Interviewers consisted of the hiring manager, the skip-level manager (director), an individual in another group that partners closely with their group, and a couple teammates the successful candidate would work with. Every single individual was very nice, seemingly genuine, obviously smart, and very excited about the company and direction their group was headed. They were clearly focused on ensuring they picked the right person to accomplish their specific goals.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
All interviews were truly very conversational. Each interviewer started with something like, "Tell me about yourself; describe your background and what you're looking to do next." They also asked, "Why Microsoft? Why this particular role/team?" After that, a question would spark a real back-and-forth conversation with situational/behavioral questions laced in to keep it going. Go in prepared for this type of situation. Be absolutely genuine, and just have meaningful conversations; don't fabricate stories or exaggerate your skills or experience.