Office 2007 blog persistence-really-does-pay-off-f

By Ginny Cheng

One of the toughest things for a recruiter is when we have to share unfavorable interview results with a candidate, especially when your gut tells you that he/she is absolutely Microsoft material but may simply need to find that right team and product group fit.

Although I have several memorable stories of how persistence does pay off, one particular candidate stood out as his story spanned over a couple school recruiters. After working with him last year where he interviewed unsuccessfully, I recently brought him back again this fall for a full time Program Manager (PM) position.

I’ve asked him to share his story because it exemplifies a type of determination that’s both admirable and inspiring. To respect his privacy, I’ve kept his story anonymous. So in his own words:

Today, I have a pretty unique story concerning my interviewing experience at Microsoft. It started three years ago and took me through twenty individual interviews (including separate phone screens, on-campus interviews and Redmond interviews). Let’s just say that you probably won’t hear something like this again anytime soon.

The whole story began when I was a sophomore in college. I was always a fan of Microsoft products and was interested in working there, but after hearing about the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, cool projects and awesome summers at Microsoft from friends, I decided to take a shot at interning there and signed up for an interview (that and I also had no intention of going back to my previous summer job – an underpaid tennis instructor for obnoxious rich kids). As most of you know, Microsoft usually has a two round process; first,Office 2007, a screening round (either by phone or on college campus) and if the candidate performs well, a second round in Redmond. I was set up for my first round interviews on my college campus. The interview went extremely smoothly and I felt I made a great connection with the interviewer. Aside from standard interview questions, I was also asked which position I was most interested in, to which I responded Program Manager. Later, I was invited to Redmond for second round interviews, however, for an SDE position.

In Seattle, I spent most of the first day relaxing and sightseeing. The next day I had my interviews. This is when things began to take a turn for the worse. That morning, I started to develop a headache that worsened as the day progressed. The first interview went great. The second I started to feel the headache more, so I stumbled a little. By the third, I started turning pale and felt really sick. I couldn’t even tackle the simplest problems. Luckily, the fourth guy had to pick up his kid from school, so that interview had to be rescheduled. I got back, had that fourth interview by phone (which went well) and then didn’t hear anything from my recruiter for over a week. Finally, I emailed my recruiter and received a reply that she had strange news for me. It ended up that the interviewers determined I would fit a PM role better than an SDE and wanted me to come out again and this time interview for a PM position (which is what I asked for to begin with!).

My second time in Seattle I had morning interviews and luckily, no headache. I felt that the first two went very well and I made a positive connection with the interviewers. In the third, I stumbled a little. The fourth interviewer was a lead PM for the group. He had a very nice personality and talked with me about my whole day and my impression of Microsoft. Again, after I got back, I did not hear from my recruiter for over a week. I tried to contact my recruiter, but to no avail – no emails, no phone calls got through. Finally, I was able to contact another recruiter and was told that I wasn’t getting an offer.

Next year, my school recruiter recommended me to fly out again (for the PM role). What chances – one of my interviewers was the same as a year ago (and he remembered me)! This set just did not go well – I made a few mistakes early on and couldn’t really make a connection with the interviewers. Ironically, in my last interview, the interviewer suggested that perhaps I’d be a better fit as an SDE! This time my recruiter got back to me promptly, though with news that I wasn’t getting an offer.

[One more year passes] I was now in my senior year and deciding between a one year Master’s degree, or getting a job. My friend recommended me to MS for interviews, but this time I didn’t get to skip first rounds on my school campus. The interviewer decided I wasn’t a fit, but the recruiters determined the results were inconclusive and set me up for a phone interview. I felt the phone interview went very well. Unfortunately, the phone screener disagreed and I didn’t get past first rounds (I was quite amazed at the way things turned out). Regardless, I ended up turning down other offers for the Master’s degree (to my parents’ chagrin as a few were rather lucrative, but instead of making money I was going to cost them another semester).

[Earlier this year] After completion of my last summer internship and facing my final semester in college, it was time to choose a full-time company to work for after school. I contacted my MS recruiter and expressed interest in interviewing there one more time (why not? – I thought if I don’t get it – well, I would have literally done all I could, and if I did – well MS is still a really cool company to work for). I expected to be set up for a first round interview, but instead, she offered to fly me out for a special event for potential candidates and offered tips on interviewing. This time I asked to interview for a PM and SDE positions at the same time! The trip started off somewhat poorly – my friend offered me a ride to the airport and then flaked out at the last minute, so I was really worried I’d miss the flight. When I got into Seattle, I was greeted by unseasonably cool and rainy weather! Luckily, these were the only low points of my trip. The recruiters did an outstanding job of planning and organizing really cool events for us (candidates) and I really enjoyed them all.

My interviews this time began at nine in the morning! The first interviewer was a very kind young PM. He asked me a few design and concept questions – some easy, some difficult – and then we chatted at the end. The second interview was with a developer, who asked me to write some code for him. He asked me a really interesting programming question and with a hint, I solved it correctly. Again, it was a pleasure interviewing and talking with him. The third took me to lunch. We talked about my past experience, some MS technologies, then he took me back to his office and asked a few technical design questions. This interview also went extremely smoothly. The fourth interview was with another team. I was expecting more design or coding questions, but instead the interview was very relaxed and I was only asked behavioral questions. The interviewer then directed me to a fifth interview. The fifth and final interview was less of an interview and more of a conversation [Note from Ginny: second round of interviews ranges from three to five or more interviewers depending on team]. The interviewer asked me about my interests. We talked about technology in general and then he told me about his team and what he does. This was the smoothest set of interviews I’ve ever had and everything just seemed to click. I found out I got an offer (for a PM position) as soon as I got back to the recruiting building that evening.

So what’s my point? Well, I definitely had friends who flew right through the interview process and got offers on their first try. But it doesn’t always work out that way. I could have quit and given up after any set of interviews, deciding this wasn’t for me (and I had great opportunities from the other two of the top three companies), but I always knew that Microsoft is a really exciting place to work, and this is where I wanted to be. So I fixed my mistakes and tried again and, in the end, things worked out more smoothly than I could have imagined. My advice is if you really believe, if you know where you want to be, then don’t let your mistakes or bad experiences stop you.

Oh yeah, he accepted our offer and will be starting upon his graduation next year! I am really proud of him and I encourage all of you to continue to work with your recruiter if you feel you have improved after some time from your previous interview with us (usually about 6+ months after). Especially with students, it's not uncommon to interview at least twice with us before receiving an offer since students haven’t had much technical interview experience.

- Ginny