Reminds me of my own story on a much smaller scale and at a much smaller company, but very similar experience so let me share it.
I recall my interview many years ago (10+ yrs) at a small Microsoft partner, this was when I was still working in banking but wanted to do more interesting work and grow my career. I was younger, ambitious and also as this post talked about, fairly new to the interview process.
I found them through a recruiter, they setup an interview and I was very anxious but excited, showed up ready to show them why I thought I could do the job they needed, why I could be a great senior .NET developer.
I met that day with one person, who asked me a bunch of very very narrow questions around some ASP.NET thing I never needed to do but could have Googled and figured out. But on the spot, if that was the scope of the interview, well then I was certainly not "qualified".
I then left, very confused and very demoralized. Is this what it meant to have interviews at jobs more interesting then some random NYC bank?
A short time later Microsoft recruiters called me back in regards to a resume I submitted 6+ months before all this started and totally thought that Microsoft didn't want me, I mean look at the crazy experience with the partner. But my buddy, a more senior developer told me "dude trust me, that was a BS interview, you HAVE to go to this interview and you'll see, you have a good chance".
The Microsoft interview was the standard Microsoft Consulting one, multiple people plus the hiring manager. I felt welcomed, they all focused on different technology and at a high level which made a lot of sense. I met my future manager, she seemed to like me. I got the job and I have not looked back, working now at Microsoft for 9 years. I was honestly very impressed with the Microsoft interview process and have helped hire others to the team over the years. It really works if you do it this way and the manager is included, but yeah many companies and even many teams within Microsoft don't do it that way and I don't get why.
I recall my interview many years ago (10+ yrs) at a small Microsoft partner, this was when I was still working in banking but wanted to do more interesting work and grow my career. I was younger, ambitious and also as this post talked about, fairly new to the interview process.
I found them through a recruiter, they setup an interview and I was very anxious but excited, showed up ready to show them why I thought I could do the job they needed, why I could be a great senior .NET developer.
I met that day with one person, who asked me a bunch of very very narrow questions around some ASP.NET thing I never needed to do but could have Googled and figured out. But on the spot, if that was the scope of the interview, well then I was certainly not "qualified".
I then left, very confused and very demoralized. Is this what it meant to have interviews at jobs more interesting then some random NYC bank?
A short time later Microsoft recruiters called me back in regards to a resume I submitted 6+ months before all this started and totally thought that Microsoft didn't want me, I mean look at the crazy experience with the partner. But my buddy, a more senior developer told me "dude trust me, that was a BS interview, you HAVE to go to this interview and you'll see, you have a good chance".
The Microsoft interview was the standard Microsoft Consulting one, multiple people plus the hiring manager. I felt welcomed, they all focused on different technology and at a high level which made a lot of sense. I met my future manager, she seemed to like me. I got the job and I have not looked back, working now at Microsoft for 9 years. I was honestly very impressed with the Microsoft interview process and have helped hire others to the team over the years. It really works if you do it this way and the manager is included, but yeah many companies and even many teams within Microsoft don't do it that way and I don't get why.