I applied through college or university. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) in Nov 2017
Interview
Gave my resume to an employee at a coding event at my school. Following a relaxed behavior/OOP on-campus interview, I was invited to their Redmond, WA campus. They pay for everything, give you a big meal stipend, and shack you up in a nice hotel so it was a pleasant experience. 4 interviews in a row, more or less; really only 1.5 were technical but I know SWE's that had more.
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.