I applied through college or university. I interviewed at Microsoft in Feb 2016
Interview
Dropped resume at career fair and was contacted for on-campus interview a few days later. Only a 30 minute scheduled interview. First question was straightforward. Second question was purely conceptual and my explanation wasn't as smooth so that's what probably did it for me. Otherwise the interviewer was laid back and nice to talk with.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a list of objects, each with a unique hashcode, how would you find a duplicate? What if the list was so large that it didn't fit on one computer?
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.