Microsoft has a legendary reputation as a difficult place to interview, but a great place to work.

Some months back, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from a Microsoft recruiter requesting an interview for what sounded like an interesting pre-sales position. The next day, the recruiter called me and spent some 30 minutes digging into my background and resume - asking questions and listening to my answers. It felt more like a conversation than a traditional interview. Based on our talk, she scheduled a phone interview with one of the hiring managers for the very next day.

The hiring manager called at the appointed time and we spent approximately an hour going through my background in greater detail. He also focused on trying to understand how I work, my pre-sales experience and how I would interact with other members of a sales org, clients, etc. He asked a few questions about my technical knowledge, but, again, the whole exchange felt closer to a casual conversation than a high-stakes do-or-die interview. He used up very little time telling me about Microsoft, and – when he did discuss the company – he highlighted its opportunities and its responsibilities.

The interview went well enough for me to pass to the next level - the dreaded technical interview.

The goal of the technical interview is to figure out both my technical strengths and weaknesses. I was definitely nervous leading up to this portion of the hiring process as I was by then very excited about the job opportunity.

Luckily, I didn't need to agonize for long. The technical interview was only two days later and it went well. When I didn't know the answer to a question, I simply said so and did not try to talk around or fake any responses. The questions were broad and varied, but they also focused on the big-picture and avoided bits and bytes minutiae. More importantly (I think) - I also asked substantive questions, not questions like “how are the health-care benefits?” or “is there a gym membership reimbursement?” (For the record, the benefits are awesome and, yes, there is a program to defray gym membership costs.)

The next day the recruiter called to say that Microsoft wanted me to come into the regional office for a face-to-face interview in three weeks' time. While I wasn't nervous about the interview, I was keyed up and very excited because the opportunity was a once-in-career shot. Everything that Microsoft JobsBlog says about dressing casual for interview is true (see: JobsBlog's Interview Prep Part I), but since I was interviewing for a client-facing position in the sales force I decided to suit up. It may seem like a small thing, but at some technology companies if you show up in a suit – it can be a strike against you because it’s felt that you won't fit into the company culture.

Finally the interview day arrived and I knew that I had done everything I could to be ready for the interview. The day was really about letting Microsoft know that they should hire me because I was the best fit for the job. At least I thought I was the best fit - now I just had to convince them of that fact…

Stay tuned for Part II later this week.