My interview with Microsoft was pretty weird. This was around Y2K and it would have been my first job out of grad school, so things may have definitely changed…probably have changed.
A guy in my grad program who was a year ahead of me got a job at MS and after I graduated helped me get my foot in the door for an interview. He was also able to give me some insight about their process. While a specific team may decide to bring you in, you are likely interviewing for that same role across a multitude of teams (they never tell you that but you can deduce it). Your interviewers might be people from your field across those different teams and/or mangers from other related functions or stakeholders of your work.
The final interviews (after several phone interview rounds) are in person on their campus and generally consists of 3 morning sessions of about about 45 mins each, a longer lunch interview, then 3 more afternoon interviews. So it runs from 9ish to 4 or 5 and is with 6 or 7 people. It is a long grueling day. What you don’t know as a candidate, unless someone inside tells you, is that any one person on the interview chain can end the process at any point. One person has the power to veto you. In this case, your later interviews will be mysteriously cancelled and you are sent packing not really knowing what happened.
So why was mine bad? I made it to the last interview and was supposed to start at 3:30. These can be in different buildings and they shuttle you around if necessary. So I am dropped off at my last one on time and am told to wait in the lobby. And so I wait, and wait, and finally about 4:30 my last interviewer comes to get me. I was dog tired. We go into this guy’s office, and he’s got a punching bag in the corner. He proceeds to put some gloves on and start hitting the bag and starts the interview. It was… bizarre. He’d hit the bag a bit, ask a question, continue to hit the bag while I was answering. I was trying to remain focused, it wasn’t happening to be honest.
I put up with it for a bit and try to muddle through, but then his line of questioning turns a bit hostile. He keeps asking me to give an answer to the same question using different examples over and over again. After about 5 times, I just sort of politely decline to go for a 6th round and indicate as politely as I could that I thought he was being rude/inappropriate. He’s like, “well I guess I’m finished then”. I thanked him and was taken back to my hotel.
My friend was shown some of the discussion about me that day (all of it happened over email). Of course I’d made it through all the earlier interviews and was all but assured of an offer based on those discussions, but this guy started a serious debate about my “enthusiasm” for wanting to work at MS. The rest of the interview team wanted to offer, but he had a bit of clout, used his veto, and despite their efforts that was that. I understand shortly after that he was let go.
I had an offer in hand at another place that I actually liked better, so it worked out in the end. It is probably not only the weirdest interview I’ve ever been a part of (on both sides), but maybe the weirdest corporate anything I’ve ever experienced. Perhaps I’m lucky in that regard? I’ve heard some horror stories from female colleagues.