I applied through college or university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Microsoft (Hyderābād) in Aug 2021
Interview
The interview process was broken into 3 rounds- two technical, and one As Appropriate (AA) round.
In the first round, interestingly, I was asked questions about real-life applications and not about what students traditionally learn and expect(such as DS/Algo).
The second round focused on my resume, and I was asked about the projects that I had made.
The final round was an HR round, which didn't involve any technical knowledge, and mainly focused on my interpersonal skills.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
You can find the question and the answer to one of the questions asked in the first round here -
The interview process began with a technical screening focusing on algorithmic problem-solving. I was presented with two coding challenges: one involving array traversal to count ball collisions based on speed, and another requiring the optimization of a weighted sum through strategic array sorting. The questions tested fundamental logic and greedy algorithm concepts, with a difficulty level ranging from easy to medium
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Problem 1: Ball Collisions
Goal: Count how many times a specific ball at position x collides with others. Logic: A collision happens if a faster ball is behind a slower one
Check balls behind x: If any ball to the left of x is faster than x, it will hit x.
Check balls ahead of x: If x is faster than any ball to its right, x will hit them.
The process had three rounds: an online assessment following resume shortlisting, and two interviews focused on Data Structures and Algorithms, testing both problem solving skills and coding efficiency. Also projects in resume were asked.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me to solve a DSA problem on arrays, focusing on both the brute force and optimized approach, and explain the trade offs between time and space complexity
Online test with 2 LC Medium-Hard level.
1 Greedy + 1 Graph
Interview 2 LC Medium level.
1 Graph + 1 Tree
Finally, HR Round based on resume, primarily ask about projects and experienced technologies.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1 Greedy + 1 Graph in OT (120 min)
1 Graph (30 min)
1 Tree (30 min)