Your job is the best interview

For Microsoft Research Asia nine years of historical building homes, work more than 10 years of staff, Zou yan is this one of the few. He United States obtain a master's degree in computer and Microsoft goes after at Microsoft headquarters to participate in the development Outlook, Visual Studio2005 etc software project, 2005 to join the Microsoft Research Asia innovation Engineering Center, served as development manager. After more than ten years, Zou Yan recalled his former Microsoft interview story.

Author: Zou Xin

About 1996 spring I at Wayne State University (Wayne StateUniversity) busy writing master's thesis.

One day, have received an email from RichardBrodie, I vaguely recall that reads:

"I'm thecreator of Word.

I found your resume… are you interested in acontract position at Microsoft?"

He asked me to write a program (like binary sort), I write an email to him after.

A few days later, he also made arrangements for a phone interview, Microsoft, ask about the project, the programming language. Soon, he said that also have to go to the interview, go to the Microsoft corporate headquarters in Seattle for a return ticket mailed to me.

To be honest, when I use the Word write thesis of this software, but it seems not particularly easy to use, I was in a very old Macintosh machine with Mac software finished thesis.

But before that, I've got some software companies Offer. And because previously had had to work in a large company unpleasant experience, I'm big corporate interest was not large. But also a free ticket, there is Microsoft's reputation, so I hold to look at the psychological and set off.

That morning, I flew from Detroit to the Pittsburg Seattle, because the time difference, arrival or morning.

Richard took me from the airport to Microsoft, he and I talk I did at home. I heard that we have finished on the target code SCOUnix (because there is no source code, we disassemble the Unix code, and then modify that Chinese characters cannot displayed, more Hacky). He was shocked, patted me on the shoulder, then you do the job is no problem.

I went into the lobby of Microsoft 17/f, stylish, one called Gary who steered me to his Office, the House was filled with a variety of toys, a big box seems to have Japanese wrote the word "chessboard".

After the pleasantries, just go straight to the topic.

He asked: "in a DBCS string, starting at the current position to the string header back a complete character?"

You see this place can never laugh, then many text editor does not handle these issues, the edit cursor occasionally went to the middle of a character.

I write on the Blackboard, next to his algorithm. The key is to understand the DBCS (Double Byte Character Set) of leading byte and trailing byte of differences, and then to the beginning of the search string. After writing about the algorithm, and went on to have all the details, and then discuss the optimization problem. After you have finished writing, he seemed quite satisfied.

(Now can't remember how to solve is lunch, generally lunch or to schedule an interview, ask some and technology-related issues)

Second face-to-face meeting called Daniel, it looks like like Chinese, he told me a few pointers for the program, probably the single linked list upside down.

Then to my analysis of the pros and cons of the various algorithms. It is very smooth.

The third meeting called Matt, he told me about them doing a call Outlook

Of email and personal information management program, far East Edition (Fareast, CJK language) progress is slow, you need to do a lot with double-byte, as well as various and South Korea environment-related issues. I asked him: "why you need Unicode, the Unicode one out, I think, you no longer have to DBCS. "He was a little embarrassed to say that our program is built on a platform called MAPI, it also does not support Unicode. As said, a commotion outside the door, someone push the door and said: "man, go ...". With my consent, Matt took me to a Hall, a bunch of people looking for a person to be shaved bald, someone still slim. Be shaved to smile, midstream. Matt told me that his name is Mike, is the Outlook Development Manager (developmentmanager). He and we bet, if at a certain date prior to the entire team of bug number reduced to a certain number, he would return to bald.

After reading his event, I was filled with drinks in the fridge for a listen to the interview MountainDew.

Matt told me to achieve standard function itoa () function is to convert the number into a string output. Perhaps tired, perhaps in large amounts of caffeine MountainDew played a role, I feel that with a simple loop method too ordinary, wrote a mathematical function. He said that this is the first time I saw such a solution, you don't have simple why? you know math library functions are more slow?, in fact, I had the idea is to use this solution to the interviewer that he knows very much, now looks childish. :)

In the afternoon, Richard take me to the hotel near the airport, the way he asked, do you want a ride in the Seattle area? I said, I think I will certainly be working here, there is opportunity in the future, this would not have.

For dinner, I also bought a newspaper and took several real estate ads, and Midwest price comparison for a moment, then the comparison is to rent a house prices, not the price of buying a House. :)

Back to Detroit for a couple of days later, Richard to email said, the first two interviews are quite good, as if the third interviewer some opinions ...

And after a few days, he said, you can come to work. So, I pushing away other companies offer, come to Microsoft's Redmond, became the company's staff, RichardBrodie in Microsoft began to far East versions of Outlook for development. The email address I was preceded by "v-", said vendor.

At that time, I interview, I remember only Microsoft is asking me to write the programs on the spot, but also to write very complete program that is not talked about ideas.

I remember once a company asked me "How do you define success?", the problem is difficult to answer, I want to personally ask questions of the standard answer is nothing.

There is also a company still ask me to do two hours of the psychometric questionnaire that asked: "at all, you who worship and why?" and I thought if you write Chinese ancient coats, that's too hard to explain, so I turned to describe one of the founding fathers, and the United States as far as possible, be careful not to put his deeds and other founding fathers of confused. Probably they analyzed my mental fairly mainstream, not long after I got the invitation of the company's entry.

At that time, a Chicago company told I do not want to accept their offer, ask me why? I said Seattle and Chicago climate, it is too cold, they said, then your salary on can also be coupled with several thousand dollars, this Chicago winter than Seattle also kind to the? I thought, or go straight to Seattle.

Now I think about the interview process fun, really is quite interesting.

Soon the Outlook97 and its far East versions published on schedule, I write code in it.

Outlook of employees particularly excited, drink a lot of wine, champagne and poured a lot of each other, the team in each of our colleagues are thrown into the pond outside of the Office building. Later the entire corridor carpets and the walls are wet, last Outlook team had to cancel a team dinner, dinner with original budget to clean the ' battlefield '.

To work at Microsoft for almost a year later, I became an official Microsoft employee, not after the interview.

The second day, I bring to the task of "v-xinz" go to "my account" xinz, will continue to work. At that time, the General Manager told Brian Outlook, he often take some ' unconventional ' way of persuading students practice in there straightThen become a formal workers, like Daniel is to do the interns, and later drop out after direct regularised. I asked my boss, not the official staff to 5 to 6 personal interview, saying, don't waste your time, your job is the best interview.

Write so much, and I hope to soon experience interview graduates friends some help.

If you are interested in Microsoft Research Asia practice or work, please contact me. My email address has been written above. :)

(Photo: Robert)