At first, I was enrolled in their internal employee referral system, thanks to the help of my friends. A month later, I was told that my resume hadn't raised any interest, and I thought I had been rejected. However, days after that, another recruiter contacted me. The entire process, from phone interview arrangement to on-site interview and final feedback, lasted another month.

I had one phone interview with simple C++ questions. For the on-site interview, I met five interviewers at the Redmond site. It started with a brief conversation with the recruiter. After that, the first interviewer took me to lunch and then interviewed me. All interviews were conducted in a meeting room. There was one 30-minute break in the afternoon, during which I had to exit the office area and wait and relax at the reception lobby. The difficulty of the interview questions was slightly above average, but fair for this position.

Because C++ hadn't been my working language for two years, a friend who works at Microsoft suggested I interview with my current working language instead. But just in case, I still practiced C++ for a few days before the on-site. I was right to do so, as all the interviewers asked me to use C++ for whiteboard coding.

I was also told that Microsoft usually replies quickly after an interview, and that proved true in my case. Just one week after the on-site, the recruiter called me and told me they would not continue the process. He also mentioned that my biggest flaw was my fluency in C++. Despite being aware that C++ hadn't been my working language for two years, in hindsight, it seems Microsoft truly emphasizes proficiency in C/C++/C#, regardless of other qualifications. I will definitely take extra care before my next application to Microsoft.