Interviewing with Microsoft India

"What to expect in the interview" I've had this question from candidates that I have referred or distant relatives or friend's friend (you get the idea!) who are appearing for an interview with Microsoft . Somehow people still get to hear that Microsoft asks riddles. Though this was true way back but now these questions are rarely asked as they indicate very little about the candidate's potential.

I have been through interviews with some leading companies as an interviewer or interviewee and IMO Microsoft's interview process is a bit different. So here goes a list of what to expect and be prepared for in a technical interview with Microsoft.

1. Unlike some other companies, Microsoft takes people from a lot of diverse background. E.g. if you are from C++ compiler development background you can be easily considered for the VS IDE's intelli-sense development if your interviewers think that you can fit in.
2. Your dress really doesn't matter. You can expect to see your interviewer in shorts and he can't care less about what you wear.
3. The interview process is loooooong. Expect multiple people to interview you one after the other. So when you get the lunch break, eat well.
4. Put things in your resume only when you know about them well. People in Microsoft comes from diverse background (see above) and their  is every possibility that your interviewer will be very aware about the technologies you have mentioned in your resume and will ask you about them.
5. Know your past projects well.
6. You will be asked to solve technical problems and write pseudo-code for the solution. 
7. Whether you are interviewing for Software development role, a test role or a lead/manager role you will be asked to code. The reason is simple, in Microsoft leads and development/test managers and even PUMs in some case (Program Unit Managers) code.
8. Think aloud when solving problems, approach is as important as the final solution.
9. When giving a solution, find out the fallacies your self and try to come up with better alternatives.
10. Its an interview, so ask questions about Microsoft and the position/role you are being interviewed for.
11. This is not true :)

Bill Gates bows out (mostly) at Microsoft

Look out the video and the Article below....

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=de-de&vid=be9075bb-df0a-41c9-8d86-7ded46627e26

June 27, 2008 is Bill Gates' last day in the office as a regular employee of the company he co-founded in 1975. But as non-executive chairman and someone who is deeply married to Microsoft, Gates is not disappearing from the company.

Chairman Bill Gates

(Credit: Dan Farber)

The transition has been well orchestrated, and he will still spend about 20 percent of his time working on Microsoft issues, such as the next-generation Office, natural interfaces, and search. And, he will still obsess and strategize about how to defeat Google.

Bill Gates field questions from this reporter.

(Credit: Michael Arrington)

I have been covering Microsoft and Bill Gates for the last 25 years, and I've had a few memorable run-ins with the him over that time. I remember asking him about upstart programming language Java's write once/run anywhere capability in an interview I did with him in the early 1990s. He sat forward in his chair and said with conviction that Java was a stupid idea. Behind that answer, the hyper-competitive Gates was thinking about how to slay the Java dragon. Several years later Microsoft C# appeared.

And who can forget his duel with David Boies in the U.S. Justice Department vs. Microsoft antitrust case. Gates believed that the government was out to destroy Microsoft, and went on the offensive. To this day, he chafes at being called a "convicted monopolist."

In many ways Gates is very much the same as when I met him a few decades ago. His tenacity, intellectual intensity, passion for technology, and competitiveness have remained intact. Now he will be applying those character traits more fully to eradicating polio, malaria, AIDS, and other diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

I can imagine one of his chief rivals, Steve Jobs, giving him a gold-plated iPhone 3G for his retirement with the inscription: "To Bill Gates: Look who's ahead now. Best of luck, Steve Jobs."

That would like dangling meat in front of a hungry lion. Gates would accept the gift with a wry smile and at the same time think about what it would take to trump the iPhone. Even though Vista didn't leapfrog the Mac OS, and Microsoft has rarely been able to out-innovate Apple, the fire is still burning and Gates will be firing off a flurry of e-mails to Steve Ballmer and others he's left in charge.

Chairman Bill Gates and three top execs: Craig Mundie, Ray Ozzie and Steve Ballmer

(Credit: Microsoft)

In an interview this week, Tom Brokaw of NBC asked Gates if he had an iPod. He responded, "No," and added, "The Zune is a better way to carry your music around." Vintage Bill Gates competitiveness.

(Credit: NBC)

The planet will be better off with Gates focused on technologies and strategies for saving lives rather than defeating Steve Jobs.

About the Legend - Bill Gates (videos on Microsoft Press Pass)

I love this man.. he is a History.. just watch Bill's Video and you too will get impressed

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/videos/default.aspx?videoID=0