The first round was by phone, featuring standard technical and behavioral questions. After a while, I was called for an onsite interview at Redmond. It was a full-blown technical interview, spanning two days with two different groups. For each group, there was a one-hour, one-on-one interview with five different people.

Most of the questions were basic algorithm problems in some general settings. Then, you were expected to ask clarifying questions about assumptions you could make and drill down to a specific problem. Afterward, you would describe your approach and write the code on a whiteboard in a language of your choice.

I felt the tough part was not the questions themselves, but the grueling process of answering algorithm questions for five hours!

There was a kind of behavioral lunch interview. I was asked what startup I would like to start if I were given unlimited funding. I totally stumbled...