This is college recruiting.

The first interview was at college and lasted about an hour. It involved one coding problem about sorting, where I had to write pseudocode on paper. It wasn't too difficult, but the pressure was on timing. Then, I was asked some questions about the projects on my resume and hypothetical questions like how I would improve Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer.

Three weeks later, I was informed that I would be flown to Redmond for an onsite interview.

I flew from Florida and stayed in Seattle for two nights. Microsoft paid for the entire trip. The first night featured a dinner party with all the other candidates from across the country and the Microsoft managers and employees who would be interviewing us the next day. The dinner was not an interview, but rather a casual party for chatting and getting familiar with each other; it was very friendly.

The next day, all candidates were divided into two groups and interviewed separately in the morning and afternoon. I was in the afternoon group. The morning involved a bus tour of the Microsoft campus, where we met and talked with HR representatives and engineers. They introduced us to the Microsoft lifestyle, including the sports center and science center. They wanted us to like it here and treated us as if we were already part of the team. The HR representative even told us that once you're invited for an on-campus interview, it means you are basically qualified for Microsoft, but they only hire the top half of candidates due to high competitiveness.

The afternoon interviews consisted of four turns, each about an hour long, with different development managers. Each turn included a coding question, where pseudocode had to be written on a whiteboard. These questions weren't very difficult; if you are strong in algorithm classes, it should be okay. Timing and efficiency were key.

Remember I mentioned they only hire the top half of the group? Solving as many coding questions as possible in one hour with better efficiency is how you stand out. I performed adequately in the first and second turns. The managers were friendly and asked questions like how I felt about Microsoft or if I had any questions or expectations for Microsoft or its products.

However, I failed at the third turn. My coding solution appeared complicated and inefficient. Although I arrived at a solution, the manager pointed it out and introduced a better one to me, which obviously meant mine wasn't good enough. The fourth turn then meant nothing; the interviewer wasn't in an interview mood at all and just asked some unimportant coding questions or other questions to pass the time.

The result was obvious. All of us knew the outcome right after the interviews finished. They called the failed candidates out of the room one by one and regretfully informed them, then they could leave. The other half who remained in the room were offered jobs.

This was for college hiring, so all candidates were undergraduates or graduates; experienced professionals may have a different and more difficult process. Someone said that since the four managers are from different teams, if one or two are interested in you, you might be hired. However, based on my experience, that's not true; you have to pass all four to get an offer. The key is consistent practice of coding problems, from easy to hard, with short timing and good efficiency, which makes you competitive.

How do you think to improve some Microsoft products, like IE, etc.?