Your interview: How to prepare and what to expect (Part 1 of 3)

Posted Feb 24 2010 7:35 AM by the JobsBloggers

RyanRead Part Two: The anatomy of the big day here.
Read Part Three: Question and answer game plan here.

No matter if you are just out of college or an experienced professional, your upcoming interview at Microsoft is bound to conjure all sorts of emotions. Most candidates are excited, nervous, anxious, ecstatic or some combination of all of the above.

Regardless of what you might be feeling, this three-part article is intended to help you prepare for your interview. It will give you a sense of what to expect on the day of the interview, as well as some hints and tips to help you be successful.

Part 1: Preparation and the day before your interview...

It’s important that you do your homework before you arrive at Microsoft. Always study the group with which you will interview. Research the product(s) developed by that group and check for news mentions. Come prepared with questions about the product and feature ideas. Also give thought to questions that will help you understand the team and Microsoft as a whole (i.e. What do you like about working on this team? What do you think sets your group apart from others at Microsoft? etc.)

It is useful to imagine yourself as the person interviewing a candidate for their team. A candidate who is not familiar with the product or isn’t curious about the team will likely not leave a good impression with the interviewer. If you don’t show passion and excitement about the team and their product, they’ll wonder why you’re interviewing for their team.

If you’re interviewing for one of our engineering disciplines, you might want to brush up on your core computer science knowledge. While you can use any language in a coding problem, often times, the interviewer will want you to understand what a class is handling for you on the back end (think memory management, etc.). You may even want to do online research for sample coding questions in order to get some practice.

Spend some time reviewing your resume. Make sure to have examples of how you’ve used your listed skills – even if it was three years ago. Also, brainstorm a couple accomplishments for each position you’ve held. What I’ve found works for me is to jot down some bullets next to each position so I will remember what I want to highlight during the interview.

After you’ve prepared mentally for the interview, it’s time to figure out what to wear. Microsoft is known as a very casual workplace when it comes to attire. You’ll probably have at least one interviewer in jeans and a T-shirt and I’ve even had managers come to my office without wearing shoes. The most important consideration when choosing what to wear is: comfort. Don’t wear a suit or anything formal. Not only will you will stick out like a sore thumb, but you may feel awkward and uncomfortable.  I recommend dressing business-casual for your interview – as an example, khakis or jeans with a collared shirt for guys.

To make sure you’re able to give your best, plan to get a full night’s rest prior to the interview. If you are arriving from out of town, make sure to get to the Seattle-area no later than 6:00 pm the night before. This guarantees that you have plenty of time to get to your hotel, find a restaurant for dinner and relax before you turn in for the night. While this may not seem like a big deal, I’ve found it makes a big difference in how candidates perform during their interview day. Once, I had a candidate book the latest flight out of his local airport the day before the interview. His flight was cancelled and since his flight was the last one of the day, there weren’t any alternate flights available. He missed his interview and we had to reschedule everything.

That’s it, you should be ready for the big day. Also, check out Part Two where I describe the interview day itself. Part Three is coming soon...

Find your place!

16 Comments

  • Rich said:

    How will you know what group you will be interviewing with beforehand?

  • Tripti said:

    I am just dreaming about the day when I will first get a Interview call from Microsoft.

  • Ryan said:

    Rich -

    For external candidate, your recruiter will explain which group you are interviewing with. For university/college candidates, the same is true, however there are times when a group's college positions fill up and we have to reschedule candidate(s) with another group. When that happens, we work as hard as possible to make sure it is in a similar group/division and to give candidates as much notice as we can.

    Thanks,

    Ryan

  • Kay Axel said:

    In January 2004 I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Microsoft. First I was interviewed by phone and then they flew me to Seattle. It was a terrific experience and one that I hope to repeat! Not only was I made to feel super welcome, after the interview I was given great feedback by the recruiter. I interviewed with 4 people that day, and 2 loved me and 2 didn’t – so I didn’t get the job – but I loved the experience. A few days later the recruiter tactfully told me that 2 of the interviewers felt I was too enthusiastic – which he explained is normally a good thing – but none the less it was not what 2 of the interviewers were looking for. Any way, I loved the experience, and hope to have another opportunity – and this time I will try and be a little less excited! !

  • Jeremy said:

    As for what you should wear to the interview, I interviewed for a position as a Technical Account Manager in Chicago last week. I had asked my recruiter what sort of attire I should plan to wear, but I didn't get a response in time. I opted to wear a suit knowing that the position is a customer-facing role and that wearing a suit to an interview is customarily a sign of respect. During the interview, I even brought my attire up with the hiring manager (my first interviewer of the day) and asked if I should maybe lose the tie; he told me that he actually appreciated that a couple of the candidates and I wore suits.

    Being that I was offered the job, I don't see wearing a suit in this case as a bad move. I know the majority of Microsoft is very casual, but I think you really need to get to know the role as much as possible, then think about what sort of attire would work best for the interview.

    One other piece of advice not related to attire - don't use an e-mail address on your resume from a competing company. My e-mail address was a Gmail address; the hiring manager gave me a hard time about it. I've since opened up a hotmail account.

  • Ash said:

    Hi,

    I applied for an internship at Microsoft and have my first interview scheduled next month. It is the first interview and will take place on the university campus.

    So my question is - Do I wear business casuals (shirt, pant and tie)or do I put on a coat as well. It is the first interview and I am guessing that all other applicants will be wearing suits.

    Thanks!

  • Ryan said:

    Hi there,

    Great comment on the TAM role - yes, for some roles it may be appropriate to dress it up a bit - but the majority of our roles don't require it.

    As for the college interview - I've only been around a couple college interview events and I think the majority of the folks did wear a jacket, but personally, I think it's necessary. Perhaps one of my peers from the college team can address this.

    Thanks for the comments!

    Ryan

  • Ali said:

    I have been trying so hard from last couple of years to secure an interview with Microsoft (which is my dream job) but I never hear anything from them. When I see people around me who got hired by Microsoft I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be provided atleast an interview chance. May be I'm missing something but there is no one to point out, anyways I will keep on trying and I know that one day I will land Microsoft :)

  • Paul said:

    Thanks for the great post Ryan. Very help and timely. I have a phone screen scheduled with MSFT for tomorrow. If that phone screen leads to a formal interview, then your Part 2 & 3 updates, I'm sure, will be really helpful.

  • Paul said:

    Ryan -

    The JobsBlog has been a great resource for getting info to prep for my job search and prep for interviews w/ MSFT. However, I have noticed that most of the info referenced in posts are for Tech positions. I am a sales professional and I have not seen much mention of how the interview process might be a little different for Sales and Service positions that may not need to be at the same level Tech wise as it would be for the more Tech demanding positions. Are there any specific differences in the interview process (i.e. types of questions asked or number of interviews or was to best prepare) between these types of positions? If so, could you possibly address that?

    Thanks

  • Evgheni said:

    Thank you, JobsBloggers, for this article! Very useful.

  • Denise said:

    What should females wear to interviews? I don't like to dress up, but my family and friends think that it would be better for me to show up in black pants and some sort of a nice sweater, and not to forget the makeup (I'm not a makeup person either). At the interview, I'd probably feel physically more comfortable in jeans, a nice T-shirt and street shoes, but I might feel uncomfortable not knowing if my interviewers are expecting more than that. I don't know what female geeks look like at Microsoft... (No, I don't have interviews at Microsoft lined up yet.)

  • Your Interview: Question & answer game plan (Part 3 of 3) said:

    Read Part One: How to prepare and what to expect here . Read Part Two: The anatomy of the big day here . Based on some of the comments we’ve seen, as well as your prior questions to the JobsBloggers, I suspect this may be one of the more popular

  • Ryan said:

    Hi there,

    Thanks for all the comments!

    Paul - Great question about sales and service positions. Unfortunately, I haven't done any recruiting for those types of positions at Microsoft. I'll reach out to one of my peers and see if I can talk her in to writing a follow up post addressing those types of interviews.

    Denise - Female geeks at Microsoft are very diverse in appearance. :) Some of my peers where business casual at the office, and some come to work after the gym in their workout clothes. For an interview, I wear something I will fell comfortable in and feel confident in. I believe I wore jeans and a dress shirt when I interviewed here.

    Try a blend of what your friends and family think and what you want to wear. Jeans are fine, but maybe wear a nicer shirt than a t-shirt. (Perhaps even do the jeans with the nice sweater and shirt.)

    I feel make up is optional. One of my friends is not a make up fan either, but when she does wear it - she usually just does some mascara and lipstick. It's amazing the difference those two things can make.

    Now obviously, if you're interviewing for a customer facing position, or a senior position, I'd dress it up a bit more.

    Thanks and good luck,

    Ryan

Comments have been disabled for this content.