Contacted by a recruiter. Had a preliminary 'skills phone interview' (how long using x technology)...
I was honest basically saying 15 years C++, but < 6 on the web and C# front.
Was called in for a day interview. I was told I would meet with three people.
After my third interview (lunch), I was taken to meet with two other people, then walked to the door.
On the surface, the interview was more or less normal. These guys were experienced software developers who were some nice, some grumpy, some arrogrant, some sociable, some not. Normal.
They ask me what I'm working on, some questions about my past, then I ask what they're working on, and then each interviewer asked a technical question, it seemed like because they knew they were supposed to because it's microsoft.
The questions were hard, but it wasn't as nitpicky as I feared, and after working through the problems I felt like I came to reasonable solutions. But I didn't get an offer, so maybe they didn't feel the same? Honestly several of these problems I would have answered by classifying the algorithm, looking it up on wikipedia and coding.
My last interview with the senior staff member was the worst. He didn't seem very interested in my answers. He asked if I wanted to change any of my answers to previous interviewers, as if somehow their were 'right' and 'wrong' answers, I guess. Sticking to who you are and what you do best is the wrong way? He asks if I have any questions, but then provides non answers to the ones I ask, so I say no, I can't think of any. I asked about work life balance and got the distinct impression that I was way out of bounds.
Now that I think about it, I don't feel really good about the experience. Between all the emailing between interviews, the trading info, the puzzles, and the trick questions, it seemed more like trying out for a game show than a job. I believe this guys were reducing me to a zero or one (hire/no hire), and their questions were being taylored to make their decision. It was not about trying to understand who I am and what I could bring to the table. So I answer that I prefer references over pointers and I am a no hire? Immature at best.
In that regard, a bad experience. Be prepared to be underestimated, under-respected and not seen. After putting it out there for this kind of experience you will inevitably end up feeling like a fool. Why do they use a process like this? One has to wonder about the experience working there if this is the recruitment setup.
One guy intimated that they work pretty crazy hours there, so I suspect a big part of the interview was trying to find someone M$ could own. Not me I guess, though the technology was tempting. I would have tried it, I admit.
The recruiter was on time with the no offer news (5 days), the best part about the interview (though I did enjoy talking to a couple of the guys).
It worked out, I guess.
