I applied through college or university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Microsoft in Feb 2009
Interview
There are many phases to the interview process, in which an initial telephone screening is required. A behavioural interview is first set up, and after that, one of the regular full time software engineers give you a technical interview. The technical interview ranges from C++ theoretical questions to memory (heap/stack) questions to coding on paper to puzzle questions. Any candidate will have to prepare heavily and brush up on their knowledge. The interviews lasted about 1 1/2 hours.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I'm thinking of a number 1 to 999. You may ask 3 questions to try to figure it out. You may not ask questions such as, what is the number, or what is the first/second/third digit.
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.