Microsoft Interview Preparation
- Roger Cruz
Intro
Information Microsoft looks for when interviewing.
Provided by Microsoft
In addition to being evaluated on your technical abilities, the team will also dive into the following competencies:
Customer Focus – Are you able to anticipate customer needs? Do you seek to resolve customer issues and/or facilitate services to address these needs?
Collaboration – How do you drive for alignment and teamwork within a team?
Adaptability – Do you demonstrate curiosity and actively explore different options? How do you respond to changing demands and circumstances? Do you thrive in ambiguity?
Influencing for Impact – Can you communicate and network effectively? How do you influence others?
Judgement – How do you effectively scope/understand problems?
Technical Excellence – Are you able to show technical depth, problem solving abilities, and curiosity?
Tips for your interview!:
Clearly understand the questions given to you.
o Don’t just jump in with examples. Ask clarifying questions.
o If you get stuck on a problem, ask more clarifying questions to get unblocked.
Explain your thought process:
o Sometimes is helps to talk through the question out loud. This will provide the interviewer with the opportunity to follow along and engage.
o State any assumptions you might have about the question
o Site specific examples from your past experiences.
If you don’t know the answer:
o It’s best to say so. In that situation, providing a hypothetical answer is a great alternative.
o You can say something like: “I don't know the answer, but here's how I think I would go about finding it in the most efficient way.”
Listen and understand what the interviewer asks.
o The interviewer may provide some tips and/or suggestions when asking questions.
Many times, the interviewer will ask you how your prior interview went.
o This is a great opportunity to share what you’ve learned in the prior interview and/or explain how, upon further reflection, you may have preferred to answer something differently.
o (Learn from your mistakes and turn it into a learning opportunity, aka having a Growth Mindset. They love this!)
Have questions.
o Often the interviewer will reserve a few minutes toward the end of the interview for you to be able to ask questions. You may want to ask about the team, the short term/long term plans for the project, how you’d contribute to the teams’ overall success, etc.
Plan ahead.
o Using the competencies listed above, prepare 2-3 examples that you would like to share with your interviewers.