A headhunter recommended me for this position. I had a screen call with a manager on the team. He asked me questions about my past experience, details of the kind of work I had done. Then I was called in for an on-site in Seattle. Arrangements were managed very well.
Interview day started at 9am. I was given a schedule by HR - three interviews and more as needed. I had to wait a long time before my first interview began The interviews ran longer than schedule and we were totally off by the third. There was a lot of downtime between interviews. Interviews were a mix of case studies and fit. The cases were not quantitative, rather around the changing business model trend that Office is going through (free google docs vs. not free office)
After my third interview I was informed that I would have a fourth and after the fourth I had a fifth interview in which I met with the head of the group. Basically I met my manager and his three peers and his boss. I was finally done at 5:45pm. I thought the interviews went well based on the feedback I received during the day.
I was informed that the decision will be made known in 10 days. This happened late November 2011. It is now mid-February. I have not heard back on the decision. In the meanwhile, I have emailed the recruiter at Microsoft four times and each time I get the same response - we are still interviewing other candidates.
I am disappointed that after being so prompt in getting me in for an interview, there is silence from the team. The least one can expect and deserve is a timely response for spending a day recruiting at the company!
