I applied through university. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Nov 2010
Interview
Talked to a recruiter at a career fair and gave them my resume. They referred me for an on-campus interview, which consisted of 45 minutes of a variety of questions (i.e. How would you design an alarm clock for a blind person? What is the most challenging programming problem you've recently faced? What is one technical product you really like and how would you improve it?), none about my resume. Next step was a 3-day/2-night trip to Seattle, very well arranged, met a lot of employees (new and veteran) who were giving advice and experience about working with the company. Interviews consisted of 4 hours of 1:1 interviews with 4 very bright interviewers, each with different questions, some regarding resume/experience, some regarding design of a software product, some regarding technical concepts.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Name one software/computer product that you currently use and how you would improve it.
1) What is a product that you think is perfect?
2) How could you improve it?
3) Ok, show me specifically what that would mean: design the user interface.
I applied online. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Jan 2026
Interview
Not a great experience with interviews taking 1 month to complete. Despite ongoing communication, the role did not move forward, reportedly due to approval constraints. The overall experience highlights a gap in aligning internal approvals before progressing candidates to advanced stages.
Clearer communication and better alignment internally would improve the candidate experience
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions on Project Experience and Thought process
The interview process is grueling and I get why people do it but its more awareness, know that you'll spend an entire day and meet several people, so it's important to be mentally and physically prepared. Eat a good breakfast but not heavy stay hydrated. This was just for a PM role it's their standard process I imagine executive level is another thing altogether
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you didn't agree with someone who was a stakeholder on your project and how did you handle that?
Very smooth, thoughtful interview process. It showed the recruiter really cared what I had to contribute and asked great followup clarifying questions. Would definitely recommend everyone try an interview with them even if it doesn't pan out.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Name one project that you have worked on and tell us the outcomes?
