Placement Story: Microsoft
Arvind & Priyansha’s Placement Experiences at Manipal
We spoke to not one, but two accomplished alumni — Arvind Sasikumar & Priyansha Mishra. Arvind is a Computer & Communication Engineering graduate from the Batch of 2018. Priyansha is an Electronics & Communication Engineering graduate from the Batch of 2019. Both have varied experiences and were placed in different roles at Microsoft. Sit back and read one of our most extensive and insightful conversations.
Interviewer: Microsoft Corporation is most certainly a dream company for any engineering graduate! Would you say it was the same for you?
Arvind: It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Microsoft was ‘the’ dream company for me. When I was 6 years old, my dad bought home the first computer I would ever use. It was a good old Windows 98 machine (with the floppy disks and everything!). On the very same day, he’d set up the game ‘Roller Coaster Tycoon’, a game I became instantly addicted to. Impressed by the game, I asked my dad how this was even possible; and in his answer was the first time I heard about the concept of programming to achieve anything you wished for inside of a computer. He once fleetingly remarked ‘maybe you could work for Microsoft someday’, and so, I would often think to myself, ‘I would!’. In fact, over the next couple of years when anyone would ask the little old me what I wanted to do when I grew up, and the other kids around would bring up professions along the lines of ‘a doctor’, ‘a scientist’, or ‘an astronaut’, I’d say ‘a computer engineer’. But what are the odds of that 6-year-old me actually working at Microsoft 15 years later?
But what are the odds of that 6-year-old me actually working at Microsoft 15 years later?
Interviewer: What is a day like in life at one of the top companies in the world?
Priyansha: As a Partner Technology Strategist, a day in my life is usually spent with Microsoft Partners in deep technology conversations that can grow their business and empower customers. It involves me to be at the forefront of Microsoft’s Digital Transformation efforts for partners which makes it all the more exciting.
Arvind: I work as a Software Development Engineer at Microsoft. The thing about working here is that most days are not the same. There are no fixed ‘time schedules’ or ‘office hours’, and as long as you can make yourselves available for the important meetings, you can work whenever you want. Also, you can work wherever you want for the most part, as work from home is not only available but also encouraged. It is an open workspace which facilitates collaboration, gaming zones to refresh, other campus amenities like excellent restaurants and stocked pantries and even sleeping pods! Microsoft lets you work on high impact projects that create a positive impact on the lives of so many of its users. But the best part, I feel, is the fantastic bunch of coworkers that you get to work with on daily. Everyone supports you when you need it and will try their best to help you bring your best self to work each day. Every day is a new day to learn something new.
Interviewer: How would you describe your life in Manipal both in and outside the classroom?
Priyansha: Most of my life in Manipal was outside the classroom. While I did have good attendance on paper, I was not mentally present in most classes due to my lack of interest in my core subjects. Outside the classroom, I was pretty active — experimenting with new clubs, startups and fest activities. I was running around from classes to clubs all day, leaving my room at 7 AM and only returning when I absolutely had to at 11 PM.
Arvind: I don’t think I was an academically bad student. I did graduate with an 8.67 CGPA, so I guess I did alright. But I am definitely not the typical academic type; the only time I’d really sit through the course content was no earlier than a week before the exams, usually a day or two prior. Outside the classroom, I would describe myself as an extroverted-introvert. I generally kept to myself, keeping myself busy with up-skilling myself or spending some ‘me time’ while not ignoring the social aspects of college life (though looking back, I should have spent more time on the latter). I am a musician, so I was an active member of several bands as a guitarist in some and as a drummer in others, performing throughout the four years of college whenever we found a chance. I was also the President of the Movie Goers’ Club, and we used to hold (almost) weekly screenings of movies at the auditorium! P.S. It is so weird that I haven’t been to DeeTee even once?
Interviewer: Not even once? That’s actually surprising. Well, my next question is — how did you prepare for placements?
Arvind: Personally, I didn’t really prepare for placements. My road to working at Microsoft was an internship I got during the campus placements during my 3rd year, which then got converted to a full-time offer (PPO). It was when the application for Microsoft landed in my email inbox one week before the vacations prior to my 3rd year came to an end, notifying us that the company would come to campus for internship recruitments alongside the campus hiring for the 4th years within a week of the campus reopening, that I really started to prepare for it. I am not someone who enjoys competitive coding. In fact, up until that point, I had hardly been on or solved questions on any of the coding platforms. But what I did have was solid fundamentals in programming and a large number of years doing it. So in these two weeks before the online test for Microsoft, I brushed up on my programming and software development fundamentals and solved a few competitive coding questions on some online platforms. Since I had pretty impactful internships under my belt, I prepared myself on that front. Finally, I spent some time honing my soft skills and preparing for the interview day (really important, something I have seen not most students do).
Interviewer: Priyansha, this question is for you — what were the most important things you had in mind while sitting for placements?
Priyansha: From my experience during the internship placement process, I think the most important things would be to stay strong in the face of rejection, learn from your mistakes and come back stronger. I wanted to get into Goldman Sachs when the process had started at the beginning of our 3rd year. I thought Microsoft was way beyond reach. I didn’t get through Goldman Sachs’ Online Test and got a call for Microsoft the very next day. I think dealing with rejection well is very important during the placement season. You need to believe that if one door closes, another will open soon enough and if you’re still grieving when it does, you’ll lose that opportunity too.
You need to believe that if one door closes, another will open soon enough and if you’re still grieving when it does, you’ll lose that opportunity too.
Interviewer: Coming to the specifics, how does Microsoft’s placement process work?
Arvind: Three things you need to know about the industry are: 1. The software engineering industry grows at such an exponential rate that 2. Things that are relevant and in-demand one year may not be so in the next, which leads us to 3. The placement processes followed by most software development companies/roles undergo a change every year, and campus placement processes are often different from off-campus recruitment processes.
In my case (2017), I had an online test round which consisted of two coding challenges, one easy-medium and one medium, of the types you see on LeetCode. Microsoft gave us ample time to solve the problem, a full 90 minutes. I had never seen that type of question before, but I was done before the 60-minute mark.
Post that, we had a group coding round. Unlike what you’d expect from the name, the activity was one where all candidates selected from the online tests were divided into a total of four groups, and each group were given a question that they had to write down the solution to, in full code, on a piece of paper.
Those selected from this round would go through another 3–4 rounds that would consist of one on one interviews with engineers and recruiters from the company. The questions would range anywhere from being asked a coding challenge and asked to solve it in front of the interviewer on the spot, to questions on programming or software engineering fundamentals to questions of a more personal nature and ones addressing your soft skills. At the end of this exercise, the selected students were shortlisted. The whole exercise would last for over twelve straight hours.
Companies love nothing more than candidates who have demonstrated that they can see themselves through a complete product development lifecycle. The way I see it, there are two broad ways to succeed in software engineering interviews, and neither is better than the other. It’s amazing if you are great at both, but more often than not, you’ll find that you are at least much better at one than the other. These two ways are — software development experience and competitive coding skills.
Companies love nothing more than candidates who have demonstrated that they can see themselves through a complete product development lifecycle.
Priyansha: As Arvind rightly said, Microsoft’s placement process changes almost every year. There are people inside the company who work hard to make sure that it’s relevant and can attract the right talent. In the year (2018) that I got hired as an intern, we had three rounds — Group Discussion (GD), Technical Round and HR Round.
Being well-versed with EVERYTHING on your resume is literally the most important part of your preparation. Don’t put things on your resume that you’re not confident about or that you did just for the sake of doing. Nearly all of the questions in my HR and Technical Rounds were from my resume. I had removed stuff like Data Structures and Machine Learning MOOCs from my resume, even though that sounded like something Microsoft would want to see as skills. I just wasn’t confident enough in these areas to be able to tackle questions on it. You can’t bluff the interviewers into believing you know something when you don’t. So be very sure about what you put on that resume and back it up with proper justifications.
Apart from the resume, I was given a couple of puzzles to solve during the Technical Round — calculate the height of a building without any measuring equipment, sort a deck of cards in the best way possible. I had told the interviewers upfront that I was not very comfortable with Data Structures and hence they didn’t quiz me on that. From what I heard, the other candidates had a lot of questions around DSA.
The HR Interview was fun. It was an easy conversation, and we primarily spoke about whether I’d want to pursue higher education, why I want to join Microsoft and what I bring to the table.
For the GD, we had a discussion around Android vs iOS. I think it’s essential also to listen and not just fight for a chance to speak during the GD. When you do speak, make sure you’re able to reflect some of the other points brought out by the group. This round doesn’t just measure your speaking skills but also your listening skills.
Don’t put things on your resume that you’re not confident about or that you did just for the sake of doing.
Interviewer: Can you elucidate the importance of doing internships?
Arvind: You don’t miraculously find the right opportunities waiting to fall into your lap; you have to take the initiative to find them instead. If there are startups near you, ask them if you can contribute. If you have someone in your network who is working on a project that seems interesting to you, ask to join in the effort. Or if you have an idea, build it from the ground up. The crux of it all is — the initiative has to come from you. Competitive programming is the other aspect you need to be good at to succeed at getting hired. The key is to collect enough data points in such a short period that encompasses an interview to judge you solely based on that. Coding challenges can help you do this. Pick a platform, and start! Usually, if your strong point is in the work experience side, you get more leeway in the coding challenge questions. And vice versa. So pick your stronger side and hone it accordingly. Generally, the initial screening round will be an online test where you will face some coding questions, but they will usually be of no more than moderate difficulty. Do take the time to prepare for your soft skills. Good soft skills make you all the more confident and help you maintain composure. I guarantee that it is going to come in handy.
You don’t miraculously find the right opportunities waiting to fall into your lap; you have to take the initiative to find them instead.
Priyansha: There’s a gap between the skills you acquire through your course curriculum and the skill set required for actual jobs in the industry. How big the gap is, depends on your branch and the job you end up with. Internships help bridge that gap. During my internship at Microsoft, I learned a great deal about Conversational AI and Chatbot Development. These are industry skills that would have been useful to me even if I had not joined Microsoft. Have a target job profile and take up internships or projects that help you acquire the skills that bridge the gap.
There’s a gap between the skills you acquire through your course curriculum and the skill set required for actual jobs in the industry. How big the gap is, depends on your branch and the job you end up with. Internships help bridge that gap.
Arvind: When I came to Manipal, starting from the second semester, once I had comfortably settled in, I began actively searching for projects I could contribute to. I joined a computer club but soon realized it didn’t help my career. Over the next four years, I worked with two startups (another two that didn’t last very long) in Manipal, and I cannot stress the impact these have had on my career. I worked on some amazing projects with great impact, and that helped shape me into the software developer I am today. Later on, I got my internship at Microsoft, and since it got converted into a full-time offer, I already knew before my 4th year began that I had a job at my dream company. I figured this was the best time in my life to experiment, so I ended up bagging a six month internship as an IT Auditor at Deutsche Post (parent company of DHL) in Bonn, Germany. What stands out in my CV is simply my work experience. I know for a fact that the reason I was selected for the Microsoft internship was my previous experiences building impactful products. The impact isn’t defined by the quantity but rather the quality. Whenever you pick up any project, whether be it in your college life or later in your career, look for its impact. It will always serve you well to keep this in your consideration.
Interviewer: When did you decide between choosing to work or going ahead with higher education? What would you say are your plans for the future?
Priyansha: I always wanted to work. I knew it from the get-go. Manipal costs a bomb, and I didn’t want my parents to take the entire burden. I studied on a student loan, and until I’ve paid it off, I’m not thinking of getting another costly degree.
Arvind: If I were to give an honest answer to this, I’d say I haven’t. I believe I am still young to choose whichever path I want. I see pros and cons in picking either option. The two years of work experience that you will be missing out on if you go for higher studies cannot be replaced with two years of education. If your sole goal is to emigrate, there are other ways to do it; you just might have to be a little more proactive in your search.
On the other hand, if you are more academically inclined, higher education might suit you better. Also, spending the two years studying gives you ample time to put your career into perspective, now that you have already got a dose of what a full-time job looks like. I’d say this is that time of your life where there are so many paths you can choose. I have some ideas on what I want to do in the near future, but I also do not want to make the wrong choices. Though time is never on your side and spending too much time, pondering comes with its consequences. I haven’t decided on something yet, but if I do, I will let you know!
Interviewer: This has been quite an interview! Wrapping up, if there was one advice you had to give to undergraduate students about college life, what would it be?
Priyansha: EXPERIMENT! I cannot emphasize enough on how important it is to experiment during college. I have tried my hands at literally everything in college — from data analytics to theatre. I have joined all sorts of clubs and even founded one. This is the time for you to try out new things and figure out what it is that you genuinely love doing. If not that, at least you’ll have clarity on what you don’t like, and that’s a start.
Arvind: I would suggest you note two things: first, academics are important, please do not ignore it and second, academics constitute only a small fraction of what’s important in your life and career. There is one fundamental flaw in the way academics is approached in colleges in India in general. A lot of the things you learn aren’t really useful in either your life or your career. But, almost all of these things are derived from a smaller set of fundamental understandings, which on the other hand, are important for either your life, your career, or both. So undoubtedly, your foundation has to be rock solid. As we all know, the grading system in Manipal works in a mix of relative — absolute grading pattern. So if you take the time that you’d have otherwise spent to increase your 35 to a 43 and still end up with the same grade, and instead spend it on working projects and picking up new skills, you are gaining exponentially more in the broader perspective of things. I’ll just leave you with one crucial piece of advice — Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean that you like it or that you want to do it for the rest of your life. And this holds just as true vice-versa. Write this down. (Yes, that was a Van Wilder reference!)
Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean that you like it or that you want to do it for the rest of your life.
Arvind, interestingly, quit his job at Microsoft just after this interview took place. We are excited to see what lies in store for him next. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
Priyansha is currently piloting an initiative to onboard five students from Manipal and help them ramp up on industry skills while also working on a live project. This is not a Microsoft initiative, but a community one — ideal for second and third-year students. Interested students can get in touch with her through LinkedIn.
Interviewer & Editor: Yash Banka (Vice President, External Relations)
Writers: Ishaan Ahluwalia, Issac B Jacob, Rupam Mondal (Associates)
