I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Microsoft
Interview
Did not apply directly/specifically, but a friend sent my resume through internally and I was brought in to speak with people about an open role.
Really odd and inconvenient interview process. There are three people involved pre interview - two separate recruiters and a staffing company. All 3 got their wires crossed a couple of times leading up to the interview, but they were nice, responsive and helpful. Scheduling process was messy, though.
Interview lasted 6 hours - 3 interviews in the morning then a useless two hour break, then one more interview. Could not leave the premises so had to sit alone in a tiny room/wander around an empty lobby for 2 hours. Lunch was provided but no one told me it was there until I asked.
Was interviewing for a senior position with mostly very junior folks. They asked silly questions that were irrelevant to the job, and seemed visibly thrown when I started asking them specific questions about the job I was interviewing for. The type of interview where they talk and talk and talk about themselves but are not sure how to react to questions. Probably okay for a lot of people, I didn't like it. You definitely need to go into the room with an insanely eager attitude - at my career level, I'm looking for an educated conversation - not so much the dog and pony show type of interview. This was definitely the latter.
Office was dreary and dismal and they stuck me in a tiny room, almost like an interrogation room, for 6 hours. Really uncomfortable, created an uneasy vibe.
Normal interview process - 3-4 times of interviews. 1 with hiring manager, 1 with peer, 1 with M2 manager.
There was not project, skill-assessment type projects before the interview.
After submitting the resume, everything was set up pretty quickly compared to other normal process from other companies.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
how would you operate without having prior experience in sales domain.
was amazing would highly recoommed this to someone else seeking the same opportunities and growth. Also was a smooth process from start to finish, nothing made me feel uneasy. hope this helps
The interviewers asked me some challenging questions about my previous work experience. They mostly focused on education and my previous job. Overall the process was ok but I wouldn't do it it again
Sales applicants have rated the interview process at Microsoft with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 60% positive. To compare, the company-average is 66.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Sales roles take an average of 26 days to get hired, when considering 46 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Microsoft overall takes an average of 30 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Microsoft as a Sales according to 46 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 30%
One on one interview: 26%
Group panel interview: 14%
Background check: 9%
Presentation: 8%
Skills test: 6%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Other: 2%
Personality test: 1%
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