Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tips to prepare for MS Support Engineer Interview

Hi Friends,

I got the opportunity to attend the Support Engineer job for Microsoft GTSC in Bangalore,India. I like to share my MS intw experience so that it can help you friends if you get a chance to attend the intw. Lets start then.... :)

The intw consists of 7 rounds which starts with technical and ends will managerial round. Please find the interview round hierarchy below.

1. Technical Round I
2. Technical Round II
3. Team Manager Round
4. Language and Communication Round.
5. HR Round
6. Group Manager Round I
7. Group Manager Round II

Ya ya... I know.. its little frustrating to go trough 7 rounds. But believe me friends. its Microsoft. The first rounds are very very IMPORTANT, because they are elimination round. Friends, the first technical rounds are very crucial. Please prepare well, because I am assuring you, they are going to RIP you literally in the technical round. All questions will fair straight and you need to answer than straight. Make sure you are familiar with all items which you have mentioned in the CV.

Next.. There are many people have very good technical things. But, only few persons will get a chance to work for MS. Most of the candidates will be rejected in round 4 where your communications skills will be tested . You should be above "GOOD" which will give you chance.

Round 3 is the meeting with the Team manager who will check your attitude. He will test you about handling the customers, your plans for future , team work and others.
If you have CALL CENTER experience.. its a added advantage. Perform this round with a good smile . Even you performed average in this round, you will get trough. "Please remember or document what you said in this round, because you need to repeat all that in Group Manager round".

Round 5 is the HR round . MS don't prefer people who shifts jobs regularly. But believe me MS is a pay master. You can ask for double figure and they are capable of providing it. Its wont be a elimination round unless you made it BAD.

Round 6 and Round 7 will be same as Round 3 mostly. They ask abt management questions rather than technical. Few of them are listed below..

a.whats the critical issue which you have handled in current company?
b.How did u solve it?
c.How you manage the team and conflicts with the team members?
d.If you are a lead, lot of questions come from management.

Even you don't have hands on experience on all the apps, you should have idea of the concept. MS looks more whether you know the concept because they are going to train you. Best books which you can refer are MS Self Placed Training Kits. It helps a lot. you can also find lot of ebooks on it.

To summarize.. TECHNICAL & COMMUNICATION are the KEY.... All the best folks.

Cheers,
Mavrick.
mavrick202@gmail.com