I applied online. The process took 5 months. I interviewed at Microsoft (Bucharest, Bucuresti) in Jan 2025
Interview
Complex and long interview process which takes months. Includes coding challenges, algorithms and OOP, but also system design.
Four interviews planned on one day, can be a bit exhausting. By the last interview I felt really tired. The offer in the end was below expectations, with some room for negotiation of the on-hire stock. The stocks awarded can only be vested after at least one year, so the position requires long term commitment. Even if you don't like the job afterwards, you have to stay at least 4 years if you want it to be worth it financially. The total compensation is not bad, the risk is not liking the job, in which case you still need to stay with them... Base-salary wise there are better options out there, which also don't require a long term commitment.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Algorithms for finding a path in a tree + OOP questions about design patterns.
The interview was a long process. There was first the recruiter screen, which was followed by a 4-loop interview structure that covered technical, behavioral, and system design. The interviewers were very kind and accommodating.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft
Interview
After my application to ClipChamp - Microsoft, a recruiter reached out and scheduled my first interview. It was about basic interview questions and background analysis. After that I had my technical interview. The recruiter specifically said that I would be facing medium hacker rank questions. So I prepared accordingly. However, what I actually got was to analyse an application and re work it according to new requirements. I felt like I was set up for failure on purpose. Didn’t even hear back after that interview.
Took a bit longer than I thought, spanning about three weeks from start to finish. After a quick recruiter screen, I had a technical round where I was asked about validating a binary search tree. The wild part is, I had literally seen this exact problem on prachub.com while prepping. It helped me feel more confident discussing my approach and edge cases. There was also a behavioral interview where I shared my experiences, and eventually, I received an offer. I chose to decline it, though, as it wasn't the right fit for me at the time.