Interview Experience: Microsoft Engage Program 2023 – SWE Intern at Microsoft

Introduction

Being selected as a SWE intern at Microsoft through the Microsoft Engage Program was a significant milestone in my software engineering journey. The selection process involved resume screening, technical assessments, project selection and interview rounds. Here’s a brief overview of each stage:

Application Selection Round:
Resumes were screened to evaluate skills, achievements, and experiences. Successful candidates progressed to the next rounds.

Round 1: DSA Assessment:
The first technical round involved a challenging DSA assessment. In a span of 30 minutes, I was given ten DSA questions to solve. This round tested my proficiency in data structures and algorithms, and my ability to solve problems efficiently within the given time constraint. Successfully completing this round was a stepping stone towards the next phase of the selection process.

Round 2: Problem Statement Explanation and Complexity Analysis:
In the second round, I was presented with a problem statement that revolved around recursion. I was required to explain the implementation of the solution for the given problem, providing insights into how recursion played a role. Furthermore, I had to analyze and articulate the time and space complexity of the solution. This round assessed my understanding of recursion, problem-solving skills, and ability to analyze algorithmic complexities.

Becoming a Microsoft Mentee:
After successfully navigating through the initial technical rounds, I received the exciting news of being selected as a Microsoft mentee.

Project Selection:
As a Microsoft mentee, I was presented with three project choices: recognition system, recommendation system, and data analysis. After careful consideration, I decided to pursue the recommendation system project, which involved leveraging deep learning techniques. I was excited about the opportunity to dive into the world of recommendation systems and explore the applications of deep learning in this domain.

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

Technical Round:

Interviewer: Debapriya Padhy (Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft)

In the Technical Round, I was asked two coding questions, one of which required me to write the code, while for the other, I had to explain the approach.

Question 1: Determining Subset of Arrays
Given two unsorted arrays, I was asked to determine if one array was a subset of the other. For example, I was given the arrays:

Array 1: [8, 5, 11, 34, 23, 7, 6, 3, 4]
Array 2: [5, 3, 34, 7]
The expected output was that the second array is a subset of the first.

Question 2: Counting Triplets with a Sum Divisible By 3 
The second question involved finding the number of triplets in an array whose sum was divisible by 3. The array provided was:

Array: [3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 4, 2]
The expected output was 13, indicating that there were 13 triplets whose sum was divisible by 3.

AA Round:

Interviewer: Shraddha Shrivastava (Group Engineering Manager at Microsoft)

In the AA Round, I faced two coding questions, along with discussions on my current intern project and my future aspirations.

Question 1: Implementing the pow() Function
I was asked to write code to implement the pow() function, which calculates the power of a given number. This question tested my understanding of mathematical calculations and algorithmic thinking.

Question 2: Solving Linear Equations as a String
The second coding question involved solving linear equations represented as strings. For example:

Equation: 11=3+x
The expected output was to solve the equation and obtain the value of x, which in this case would be x = 8.

Discussion and Reflections:
Apart from the coding questions, the interviewers showed interest in my ongoing intern project, seeking insights into my accomplishments and challenges. They also asked how I would modify my project if given an additional month to work on it. Additionally, I was questioned about my long-term goals and where I saw myself in the next five years.

Conclusion:
The interview experience at the Microsoft Engage Program was both challenging and rewarding. I had the opportunity to showcase my coding skills, problem-solving abilities, and project management expertise. The interviewers provided 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 grateful for the opportunity and eagerly look forward to the internship ahead.