I applied through university. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Dec 2009
Interview
I provided my resume to my university's recruiter. I had worked with her in the past for a Microsoft sponsored student event, so she knew me.
A few weeks later Microsoft was conducting interviews on my school campus and invited me for what they call "oncampus interviews." This takes the place of a phone screening. Before the interview I fill out a form stating what positions I'm interested in: SDET, SDE, or PM. On the day of the interview you are interviewed by a single person, who asks general questions, and then questions more specific to your preferred area.
If you pass this phase you're invited to an interview at Microsoft, and you meet with multiple people, generally interviewed by two teams. You go to the office of the person interviewing you, and have to answer technical questions and do whiteboard programing. At each stage the interviewer can choose to send you home, but if they don't you're eventually interviewed by the fifth and final person, the hiring manager who has final say in whether you get an offer or not.
It took several months before my last interview before I heard that I was going to be getting an offer. This was unusual compared to my friends experiences.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you design a CD player. Specifically, what UI choices would you make? And then how would you test it?
Moderate leetcode question, more focus on the approach and not on the output, interviewers were very friendly and guiding along the way, discussed a lot of technical details about the project i worked on previously
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me three main components of the project that you worked on
1st round phone call with talent team. discussing experience and the roles they have in the space. Then onto some technical questions and talking about the rest of the interview process
Fast and quick but the questions were tricky. Interviewer was nice and we got along well. The interview process was efficient, and communication was clear throughout. I appreciated the professionalism and friendliness, though preparation is key for the challenging questions. Overall, a smooth experience with a supportive atmosphere.