Microsoft SWE Intern'23 Interview Experience | Noida

Introduction

I was thrilled to be selected as a SWE intern at Microsoft through the Microsoft Engage Program, a significant milestone in my software engineering journey. The selection process was comprehensive, involving resume screening, technical assessments, project selection, and finally, interview rounds. Here's a brief overview of each stage:

Application Selection Round

My resume was screened to evaluate my skills, achievements, and experiences. Upon successful evaluation, I progressed to the next rounds.

Round 1: DSA Assessment

The first technical round was a challenging DSA assessment. I had 30 minutes to solve ten DSA questions, which truly tested my proficiency in data structures and algorithms and my ability to solve problems efficiently under time pressure. Successfully completing this round was a crucial step towards the next phase.

Round 2: Problem Statement Explanation and Complexity Analysis

In the second round, I was presented with a problem statement centered on recursion. My task was to explain the implementation of my solution, detailing how recursion was applied. Additionally, I had to analyze and articulate the time and space complexity of my approach. This round effectively assessed my understanding of recursion, my problem-solving skills, and my ability to analyze algorithmic complexities.

Becoming a Microsoft Mentee

After successfully navigating the initial technical rounds, I received the exciting news that I had been selected as a Microsoft mentee.

Project Selection

As a Microsoft mentee, I was given three project choices: a recognition system, a recommendation system, and data analysis. After careful consideration, I chose to pursue the recommendation system project, which involved leveraging deep learning techniques. I was particularly excited about diving into recommendation systems and exploring the applications of deep learning in this area.

Following the project selection, I received an email detailing the interview rounds. The interviews were scheduled 20 days from the notification, which gave me ample time to prepare and showcase my skills. The final selection process consisted of two rounds: a Technical Round and an AA Round (HR Round).

Technical Round

My interviewer for this round was Debapriya Padhy, a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft.

During this round, I was asked two coding questions. For one, I had to write the complete code, and for the other, I needed to explain my approach and logic.

AA Round

My interviewer for the AA Round was Shraddha Shrivastava, a Group Engineering Manager at Microsoft.

In this round, I was presented with two coding questions, along with a discussion about my current intern project and my future career aspirations.

Discussion and Reflections

Beyond the coding challenges, the interviewers were interested in my ongoing intern project, asking about my accomplishments and the challenges I faced. They also posed a hypothetical question: how would I modify my project if given an additional month to work on it? Furthermore, I was asked about my long-term goals and where I envisioned myself in the next five years.

Conclusion

The interview experience at the Microsoft Engage Program was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. It provided a fantastic opportunity for me to showcase my coding skills, problem-solving abilities, and project management expertise. The interviewers offered valuable feedback and insights throughout the process. Overall, this experience has further fueled my passion for software engineering and strengthened my determination to pursue a successful career at Microsoft. I am genuinely grateful for the opportunity!