My Microsoft Experience
13 03 2008So, as my first contribution, I would like to describe my on-site interview experience with MSFT for their Program Manager Intern position. I will provide the questions, but no answers as I am not sure if that is ethical (nor if anyone would want them from me). Some background information, to begin:
I did not get the job. While MSFT pays well immediately, you cap at a certain point where most career advancement halts, or so I’ve heard, so I not all that upset. Furthermore, Microsoft has essentially become market reactive, in that innovations come elsewhere, and Microsoft attempts to enter the newly created markets with a copy product. LiveSearch and an attempted acquisition of Yahoo is just one of many examples.
My experience with Microsoft began with a career fair, in which I submitted my resume and discussed my skills. I was then called for a phone interview almost 2 months later, in December. The phone interviewer first asked me to discuss my past experiences. I was then told to design any piece of technology in the room. I was asked to discuss a bad Microsoft product and how to improve it. He then asked me to pick another product, and improve that product as well. I was then asked to pick one I liked and why. I was finally asked to discuss my goals at Microsoft (I described .NET and the WCF).
I must have done well (considering there were no coding questions, I imagine I did, since I cannot answer these). I was then contacted to come on-site and interview, and scheduled my interview for February. Microsoft put me in a hotel for 2 nights and paid for my food and transportation. I interviewed in 1 day.
First interview: This began at 8:15 and was with the Lead Program Manager of Microsoft PerformancePoint Server. It consisted of 2 questions. Why Microsoft? Take your previous project from last summer, and describe it in detail, using the whiteboard. It was a test of my presentation skills and technical communication abilities.
Second Interview: This was with a PerformancePoint Server Program Manager, serving under the lead. He was testing my technical skills. I got two questions. Given a binary search tree, find the lowest common ancestor on the tree. Design and write requirements for a system which recieves streaming video from MSNBC (very open ended). He eventually led me down the path to discuss what I knew about socket communication. Clearly, I knew very little.
Third Interview: This was a lunch interview, and I ate with an individual who did not speak English well. Odd considering it was a test of my interpersonal skills. The interview was entirely behavioral. If you do not know what a behavioral interview is, please go to our career center website, as it has very useful information if you have never looked for a job before (but very little otherwise).
Final Interview: This interview is the last interview for INTERN candidates who have done well. I must have screwed up here, considering I got to this point. I mention intern in caps because generally for full-time, the final interview with MS is usually the 6th I believe. Anyway, I was interviewed by the Group Program Manager for MS Office, essentially the head of the whole division. I was asked essentially 2 questions: design Bill Gates’ ultimate alarm clock, which is sold for $80 a pop at SharperImage, can support 2 parallel alarms, and is on the cutting edge. 2nd, expalin how we can make people use Outlook, whereas no one really knows how to configure it.
Conclusion: I didn’t get the job, so obviously, I am not the best to go to for success advice. But I came away with a lot of good tips. Know your code. I am convinced that even the BS design questions I got, they wanted me to go deep into the design and discuss coding and such. I cannot code, so this was a problem. Aside from that, I imagine it went well, with my GPA also being a factor in their decision.
Lesson: Microsoft and Google are not the only companies a CmpE at Vandy should be considering. As a matter of fact, from what I saw, this is the fast track to codeMonkey-dom and no where else. I asked the Group Manager of Office where he expected his career to take him next, and he replied that he wanted to stay in product in his current role forever. Perhaps he has the greatest job on earth.
As a CmpE, strategy consulting companies are a good choice, as they can lead to a lot of great things (B-school). There is technology consulting as well. IBM and SUN are also out there.
And there you have it, MSFT internship interviews, in a nutshell.
MLB
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