Michelle Xing’s Post

Excited to share that I have joined Microsoft as a Software Engineering Intern on the Advertising team this summer! Thanks to Nupur Aggarwal , Nitesh Kansal , Rashmin Babaria and the entire team at Microsoft Advertising for the seamless onboarding. Interview Experience It was an off-campus event. I applied through the Microsoft career portal in September and received an interview call in November. There were two rounds of interviews for me, both of which were technical. Round 1: It started with introductions. The first 15 minutes were for CS fundamentals (OOPS, DBMS, CN, OS). After this, I was given an easy problem based on DP + Binary search. I took 25 minutes to formulate and explain the solution and 10 minutes to code it. I was supposed to write the whole file, not just the function snippet, similar to CP. Round 2: It was a managerial round. We started off with a medium-level problem on a linked list. The main challenge was to account for all the edge cases, and here too I was supposed to write the whole code from taking input, forming the linked list, and then passing it to the function. The interviewer also wanted the use of a destructor at the end of the program to free allocated memory. Then, we had a brief discussion about my main project, and at the end, there was a brain-teaser question. Overall, this round took over an hour. Thanks to the LinkedIn community for all the suggestions and referrals I received during my off-campus intern hunt.

🚀 Exciting News Alert 🚀 After a rollercoaster year of growth, grit, and countless cups of coffee, I'm beyond ecstatic to share that I'm joining the Microsoft Advertising team as an Account Manager. This is a dream come true as I have always admired Microsoft's generative AI vision, culture and impact on conversational Search. I can't wait to join their amazing family next week. But getting here was not easy. As some may know, I left Google 11 months ago after my role was eliminated. It was tough... but I always face new challenges head-on. Little did I know that the job market was about to become a nightmare! With rising inflation and interest rates, recession fears, and the competition from thousands of other tech layoffs, the uncertainty was emotionally crushing at times… I am grateful for the lessons I learned during this difficult period. So I'd like to share with anyone in the same position my 4 biggest takeaways: - ✅ Treat job-hunting like a sales pipeline. Set yourself targets to stay accountable, analyse your rejections, seek feedback and learn for the next interview. - 🤝 Applying online isn’t enough. It’s also about networking, and seeking referrals and connections of who can vouch for you. - 👨🏫 Learning new skills beyond your current talents. 'Soft skills' will make you stand out. - 🏋♂️ Stay positive and healthy with exercise and sports. I’m grateful for this opportunity and for everyone who helped me along the way. My family, friends, mentors, my connections and my former colleagues... You all played a role and I can't thank you enough. I am ready for this new chapter in my career, to face new challenges and learn new skills in 2024. Bing it on. #newbeginnings #bingads #copilot

My journey at Microsoft began with five interview rounds. I have been to multiple job drives, and even after years of experience, the pressure remained the same. But the case at Microsoft was different! The extensive experience of passing through 5 rounds is one of the critical moments in my career. ▶️ Rounds 1 and 2 were all about coding. I had to showcase my coding and problem-solving skills, where solving the problem and the approach, starting from brute force algorithm and optimisation were necessary. I still remember using bottom-up DP and DFS to find connected components/islands. ▶️ Round 3 was about system design. They gave me a problem around a counter that can handle disaster recovery and assessed my ability to build end-to-end systems. ▶️ Round 4 talked in detail about the work I was doing and had done at previous companies to understand how I contributed. We discussed the HLD of the application I was working on and went to the Low-level design of a few modules. We also discussed core concepts, such as multithreading, parallel programming and asynchronous programming. ▶️ Round 5 revolved around culture fit and how I would gel into it based on my skills and personality. I am grateful for getting accepted by the end because it was one of the most exciting interviews I had given. When you go to interviews, it's common to get overwhelmed seeing the competition and pressure. But, Microsoft's standout quality was: • Maintaining a peaceful environment throughout all the rounds. • Avoiding any external pressure, creating a calm atmosphere for the applicants. • Check if applicants ate during the process. While internal stress was there, this approach certainly helped ease things. And that is also one of the reasons why Microsoft has been my first love in all the companies I've worked for! :) I am glad to be connected with them even now as my husband is also a part of this incredible company! What's your most memorable interview experience? #microsoft #interviewexperience #careerguidance

Switching from a startup to Microsoft was quite a challenge for me! I’ve received lots of DMs asking how I managed it, so I'm sharing my strategy today 🚀 1. Build Strong Foundations: I created separate lists of the top 10 questions for each DSA topic, like arrays, strings, and linked lists, and practiced them gradually. 🗺️ 2. Understand Problems: I made sure to fully understand a problem before trying to solve it. 🤔 3. Revise Regularly: Consistent revisions on weekends helped me retain what I’ve learned. 📚 4. Mock Interviews: They boosted my confidence and helped me realize my weak points. 💼 Creating this kind of roadmap wasn’t easy for me, so I got a little help from an SDE friend. Even you can get help and assistance from top engineers to create your prep plan from SDEs at Preplaced. Their personalized roadmaps will help strengthen your foundation, overcome your weaknesses, prepare for interviews, and crack them with ease📈 Try a FREE session with a top mentor - https://lnkd.in/gh9VKwa3 I hope my strategy and suggestions help you ✨

Quitting my job at Microsoft was the toughest decision I have ever made in adulthood. https://lnkd.in/gtw-5NS3 Will you quit too? In this video, I explain the main reasons I took the decision. I hope you'll be able to learn from this. https://lnkd.in/gtw-5NS3 #career #microsoft

🌟 A Day in My Life at Microsoft 🌟 Ever wondered what a day looks like for a software engineer at Microsoft? Here's a glimpse into my routine: 7:30 AM: My day kicks off with a fresh cup of coffee, a quick workout at the gym, and a refreshing shower to energize for the day ahead. 10:00 AM: I'm at my desk, diving into focused work. These morning hours are precious for deep dives into coding challenges, optimizations, or brainstorming new solutions. 12:00 PM: Time for our team's stand-up meeting. We sync up on project statuses, discuss any blockers, and align our priorities for the day. It's a great opportunity to stay connected and leverage collective expertise. 1:00 PM:Lunch break! This midday pause is crucial for maintaining productivity and creativity. 2:00 PM: Back to work. Some afternoons are filled with collaborative meetings—design discussions, or sprint planning sessions. These interactions fuel innovation and ensure our projects are on track. 4:30 PM: Snack time! A small break to refuel and chat with teammates before the final stretch of the day. 6:00 PM: As the day winds down in the office, I wrap up any pending tasks. If there's work that needs completion, I can seamlessly transition to finishing it from home, thanks to our flexible work environment. Each day presents new challenges that push me to grow as a software engineer. I'm grateful to be part of a dynamic team. Here's to more days of learning, creating, and making an impact together. In my latest video, I share my raw interview experiences—the blunders, the awkward moments, and the lessons learned. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gukd8KHM Follow Swati Jha for more content related to coding, interview preparation, resume building, software engineering and career growth. #microsoft #dayinmylife #softwareengineer

🎉 What an incredible experience at Amazon’s Campus Summer Series Event! 🎉 I had the opportunity to attend, and one of the highlights for me was getting to dive deep into Amazon’s cutting-edge technologies and learn from the software engineers who are driving innovation. I especially enjoyed learning about how Amazon uses scalable solutions to solve complex problems, which aligns perfectly with my passion for software engineering. It was also great hearing from David Lafferty, a tech recruiter at Amazon, who shared invaluable insights into Amazon’s hiring process and what it takes to become a top applicant. His advice gave me a clear roadmap on how to stand out in the application process and succeed. One of the most valuable takeaways was the deep dive into Amazon’s approach to cloud architecture and how they build resilient, high-performing systems on AWS. Understanding how they optimize for both performance and customer experience has truly inspired me to think critically about designing solutions that can scale efficiently. I’m excited to apply these insights as I continue developing my skills in software engineering and cloud computing. This month, I’ll be starting a bootcamp focused on AI and Software Engineering, which will also dive deep into cloud computing technologies—perfectly aligning with my career aspirations and what I learned at the event. 💻 Huge thanks to Amazon for organizing such a valuable event, and for the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals in the tech space! #AmazonSummerSeries #SoftwareEngineering #CloudComputing #TechInnovation

When I started as an SWE intern at Microsoft, I felt like a fish out of water. The idea of writing APIs, tests, and handling databases felt incredibly overwhelming. But after doing this for two years, I've developed strong backend skills. I now write modular API endpoints with efficient database calls. ✅ The key takeaway is that it's okay to feel overwhelmed initially. What matters is to keep going and seek the right guidance if you want to improve. At Preplaced, you can connect with top SDE professionals for 1:1 mentorship. Book a FREE session with them here: https://lnkd.in/dCX7uEPN They will help you upskill, prepare for interviews, and boost your confidence so that you can reach your goals faster. 💪 Give it a try so you don't face a similar situation like me!

Hello, LinkedIn network! Today, I want to share a bit about my journey in finding my dream, especially my aspiration to become a software engineer at Google or Microsoft. It wasn't a straight path, and it wasn't always easy. But it was worth every step. When I was younger, I had a dream—to contribute to cutting-edge technology as a software engineer for a leading company like Google or Microsoft. It seemed far-fetched, almost impossible. But I held onto it, nurtured it, and let it grow. I made choices that may not have seemed logical to others, but they aligned with my dream. I faced obstacles, failures, and rejections. But with each setback, I learned something new. I learned resilience, adaptability, and the power of never giving up. Currently, I am still working towards achieving my dream of being a software engineer at Google or Microsoft. It's not perfect, and there are still challenges ahead. But every day, I wake up excited to work towards this goal, knowing that it's a journey worth taking. So, my advice to you is this: Don't be afraid to chase your dreams, even if they seem daunting. Embrace the journey, learn from the setbacks, and keep moving forward. Because, at the end of the day, finding your dream is about discovering who you truly are and what you are capable of. #DreamChasing #JourneyToDreams #NeverGiveUp #SoftwareEngineer #Google #Microsoft