I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft (Herzliya) in May 2024
Interview
My interview experience with Microsoft was disappointing. The initial recruiter mentioned it would be a coding interview via Teams and Codility but provided no details on data related topics. Only a day before the interview, another recruiter informed me it would include Python, SQL, statistics, and Pandas. the misleading information from the recruiter was frustrating.
During the interview, I answered all the questions, including several on SQL. Although my answers were correct, the interviewer wanted a different implementation for one question, which did not offer better performance. I provided an alternative solution within two minutes. Even though my answer was correct, it wasn't enough because I took some time to think about it.
Despite my efforts, I didn't pass the interview and received a rejection email. The interviewer told me that I was rejected because of a minor issue with the SQL question. This was really disappointing because it seemed like they didn't value creative thinking and only wanted specific answers to pass.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
questions included: easy leetcode python, sql, pandas, and model performance metrics
1. Online Assessment: Test on model building, updating, and core data science concepts.
2. Technical Interviews: Focused discussions on your data science skills, project experience, and problem-solving approach.
3. Managerial Interview: Evaluation of fit with company culture, team dynamics, and leadership potential.
Interview was scheduled with Hiring manager in the first round, where they ask basic questions on Data science and machine learning models. Also they test on the coding part with both python and SQL queries. Added to this, they even asked behavioral questions in the first round itself. I did not expect all these in first round itself.