Microsoft, Part Deux

So, for the past week or so, I’ve been keenly checking my email hoping to hear back from my phone interview with Microsoft. Today I got “the” email from Microsoft.

Hi Navid,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me recently.

I have good news for you – I have recommended that we interview you further for a Software Design Engineer in Test position. Someone should be in touch with you soon to schedule your interview date and travel. Please be sure to let me know if you don’t hear from anyone within two weeks.

Naturally, the interview process takes a few weeks from beginning to end. Please be sure to let me know if you have any imminent deadlines, or if there is another risk of losing your candidacy.

Yeah… I was shocked too. They’re going to be flying me in for an in-person interivew…. Here’s the next part that baffled me even more.

As you prepare for your interview day, be sure to brush up on your pointer arithmetic, practice coding without a reference and talking through your thought process as you work.

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Also, I would recommend checking out a testing book. There’s a good one called Testing Computer Software by Cem Kaner that’s proven extremely helpful in the past. You should be prepared for software testing questions, as well as abstract ones, such as testing a ketchup bottle. Keep in mind that when you are asked a testing question by an interviewer, you should keep generating test cases until they tell you to stop. If you get stuck, it’s okay to ask for a hint to get you going again.

Good luck with your interviews and travel safely!

What the? I need to check out a book and read it for an interview? This is going to make me very wheezy. Anyway, there you have it. I’m moving up the interview ladder at Microsoft — and I think actually flying up is friggen crazyness.

I’ll keep you all posted on how things go.

Adieu. Navid.