Technical interview - A Subject Matter Expert will be discussing technical aspects of the position with you. Expect practical exercises and reviewing real life examples of problems you would need to solve. Methodologies, programs and tools you’ve used in your previous positions and would use in the role you applied for will be discussed.

The interview by Microsoft is a long process. Standard is to have around 7-8 rounds of interview. Every interview round opens the gate for next round if cleared else full stop. The rounds are as follows: -Written test( 60 minutes) -> basics of computer science like OS + concepts clarity on. Net, and any. Net language like c#, vb. Net. Other topics like asp. Net, wpf, wcf etc. -1st technical round- 30 to 60 minutes depending on for which you have applied. -2nd technical round- this is a very indepth technical round taken by the highest technical people of the team. It can stretch from 90 min. to 120 min. -communication round-15 min. To test customer handling and command over the language. -Managerial round- 20 to 40 min. - the fit in the Microsoft culture and team would be tested. - Group managerial round- 20 to 45 min. - to see the genuineness of the candidate. - Director round ( rarely taken) - this is just like group manager round. - HR round- this round is to know about your expectations and to discuss the responsibilities for the role, and then finally salary discussion. =======

Was very intense and had multiple interviews probing my depth of C, C++ and Win32 knowledge (back in 1997). One technical interview lasted more than 3 hours.