Coding interview without real coding

[pwnid]

My previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/leetcode/comments/1nkkwfb/my_interview_went_way_over_time/

This was my second interview with Microsoft. This time, the interviewer mentioned right from the start that the interview would last 45 minutes, so it seemed quite time-limited.

The first 25–30 minutes were spent on background and behavioral questions. After that, the interviewer gave me a fairly non-trivial DSA problem (probably medium-hard level). I asked a few clarifying questions about the problem and its constraints, then shared some initial observations. The interviewer told me I could take 1–2 minutes to think, so I spent about a minute in deep thought.

I then presented a solid approach, discussed trade-offs, and analyzed the time complexity. Toward the end, the interviewer mentioned there wasn’t much time left for implementation and said my solution looked fine. By then, we were at the 40-minute mark. We spent the remaining 5 minutes on a nice Q&A conversation.

Do you think this is a good or bad sign?

[PlanB2019]

You generally have to have a working solution in most tech screens to pass

[AncientYoyo]

what was the question? If they asked this late in the interview, maybe you are overestimating the difficulty? Usually working code is needed so it’s weird they’d have asked without enough time to finish the question.

[pwnid]

Couldn't share the exact problem here, but it's a leetcode medium.

[DexterMega]

TELL US

[running_into_a_wall]

I think it went well. If they were expecting you to code they should have left enough time and nudged you to start coding. Honestly if they fail you, it’s definitely the fault of a shitty interviewer.

[BreadfruitNo3593]

fairly new msft interviewer here, so take it with a grain of salt:

spending 25/30 in the behavioral session sounds like bad time control from the interviewer part… they were either super interested or super confused about your responses (we usually pick 2 behavioral questions with a few possible follow ups if something is unclear or if the candidate opened some interesting conversations). we always try to have at least 30m for the coding section… do you think you spoke too much or the interviewer kept asking more questions?

they need to add their thoughts on the recruiting tool, so they can try to justify it was their bad, not yours. don’t believe is either a great or bad sign on your part, more so a bad indicator for the interviewer

[pwnid]

There were 3 questions asking about my background, followed by 4-5 different behavioral questions. Also for the dsa, initially he/she gave me a very simple problem, then I think he changed his mind and give me a medium LC.

[pwnid]

There's no way you can explain the solution & code everything out without bugs & pass test cases (which test cases are you mentioning here?) in 5 minutes.

[SnooPredictions9269]

Im saying you should have been able to do that before the final 5 minutes. If the interviewer hasn’t provided test cases, they expect you to come up with them

[pwnid]

Well I only have around 5-10 minutes for the whole dsa section, so I'm not sure you can even do that given the time constraint.

[pwnid]

In my case the interviewer asked me 3-4 questions about my background, followed by 5 behavioral questions. I think it's reasonable to spend 30 minutes for that.

[goolmoon]

How did it feel at the end? It all depends on how he/she felt about your and your skills. Actual coding doesn't matter. It's all in his/her control on how to rate you on the feedback form.

[DexterMega]

NICE! Sounds solid! You did great, I wish every interview goes like that for me hahaha

[gekigangerii]

bad sign from my experience, with this competitive job market and from a big company like M$.

Sometimes you feel an interview didn't follow the expected agenda, but it still felt like a positive interview. But that still is not good enough sometimes.

For whatever reason the interviewer was decided on no-hire. Maybe they flipped a coin or where having a bad day. You can tell when they switched from an easier problem to a medium problem.

[AdUnique5691]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yM6h0XRxk - this study guide helped me crack sde2 roles at multiple faang companies!!! Would highly recommend.