Microsoft | SDE 1 | Bangalore | November 2021

My Microsoft FTE interview journey started with an off-campus application via the Microsoft Engage Program. After clearing a coding assessment, I was assigned a mentor for a 3-week program where I had to showcase my work. Performing well during this mentorship was crucial, as it determined eligibility for further interviews. Luckily, I received a direct interview call post the coding round. All assessments and interviews were conducted on the Codility platform.

The initial Coding Round lasted 90 minutes and featured two medium-hard problems. I managed to solve both of them within 40 minutes. One problem was almost similar to 'Session in BSU' from Educational CodeForces Round 49. The second problem asked me to find three non-collinear points in a 2D plane such that the triangle formed by them contained no other points. My approach involved finding the three closest points and ensuring non-collinearity by checking slopes.

Technical Round 1, focused on Data Structures and Algorithms, surprisingly concluded within 20 minutes. I was asked to find cousins in a binary tree, which linked to a LeetCode problem, and another problem whose concept was similar to 'Minimum Number of Arrows to Burst Balloons'.

Technical Round 2, another DSA round, required almost the full hour to write the working code. The problems included 'Next Permutation' and variations of 'Word Search'. For the Word Search problems, I considered both 'Word Search I' and 'Word Search II', noting that a Trie approach could be used for the harder version.

Finally, Technical Round 3 was a mix of project discussion and DSA, lasting approximately an hour. About 40-45 minutes were dedicated to an in-depth discussion about one of my projects. This covered the tech stack, my motivation, challenges faced, how I ensured efficiency, database design, functional and non-functional requirements, security, and scalability. The remaining time was spent on a coding problem, which was very similar to 'Maximum Equal Frequency' on LeetCode.

Throughout the interviews, I made sure to stay positive and articulate my thoughts clearly. I was advised not to rush answers and to take my time, as interviewers were supportive and offered help when I got stuck. It reinforced the importance of believing in oneself.