The process started with a recruiter contacting me. They gave me assignments to complete, which I did. I was in Redmond for interviews with 3 teams. 5 interviews in total. All rounds were technical. They gave me problem statements, asked me to write pseudo code and explain my approach to the problem. In subsequent rounds, the difficulty went up and the final round was something I had never encountered. It was about writing an algorithm to detect the highest point in a contour map. I honestly did not think I would clear it. But I think this is an as-appropriate interview. If the candidate is found to be suitable, they talk to a fairly senior person. This person will go deeper and deeper to check a person's grit at problem solving. I think they want to see how determined you are to reach solutions - a skill that is very important at Microsoft. So I gave my solution and the person kept asking me for more and more info. At some point he must have decided that I had hit my limit. I got the offer.

6 hours worth of interviews, with people of various levels. The focus is on technical and testing skills, and less about cultural fit. It makes for a long day, so get plenty of rest the night before, take the interviewers up on their offers to get something to drink (stay hydrated). Focus preparation on coding and technical questions. As you think about the answer do your best to think out loud. It is just as much about how to get to the answer rather than getting the correct answer. Also - try not to get rattled by interviewers being jerks. It is common. Sometimes it is intentional to see how you react, sometimes you just get an inexperienced interviewer who has poor people skills.