After MS Interview!

well, there are 3 outputs from MS interviews!, those who get accepted, those who know that they didn't did good and that's why they were not accepted, and those who don't know what on earth has just happened!..

well, to start with who didn't get accepted, it's really OK, as a start try to find what did u miss?.. try to read my Interview tips again, hope this could help!. Try to look at the interview process as an experience interview, u really did sit with gr8 minds, team leads and managers in the largest software development company in the world!.. they r brilliant, and u had the opportunity to talk to them coz from the phone interview, they suggested that u r a qualified person, and u r qualified, u just need some more work to do. Do it, study harder for next time interviews, Don't give up!, it's really a life time chance that's gonna change ur life!!, u can't give up that easily!, or can u?.

For everyone got accepted!, Congratulations!.. :-) I'm really happy and looking forward to c u soon in MS campus!, u really reached something u dreamed about for a long time!, or maybe worth, u didn't even dare to dream about it!. will to be honest, if u think that u reached ur goal, maybe it'll take u some time, maybe till u start working, and u'll find it's not the end, it's just the start!!.. what do u think!, that this is ur stop!, it's just getting starting!..

well, there is a lot of stuff that u'll need to ask about of course, a MS recruiter will contact u soon to talk to u about many things, u'll be assigned a relocation specialist, a paralegal, and a lawyer!.. all will work with u for ur visa procedures if u are not already an American citizen... MS consider it all as a long term investment.. Investment in U!. Don't get scared!, Never be afraid, those people who hired u know what they r doing!, U R QUALIFIED TO WORK FOR MS.. u needed me to tell u that!.

2 days ago, I'm still currently working in a tool that's gonna be released with MS longhorn next year, so I was discussing the implementation design and algorithm with my team member (He's also now my project lead or my senior Dev.).. well, He's 27, he has 2 masters in Computer science!.. and he has been working for MS for a bit more than 1 year now.. To be honest, getting my code reviewed is not that easy in MS!!.. there's a lot to talk about during code review, a lot of standards that u need to follow!!.. a lot of things that u need to secure and make sure that u didn't leak!.. so we had this argument about a performance issue in the design that he wants to implement, to make it brief and simple, I didn't agree to initialize all the class objects just by calling the constructor, if the caller needs to do something I wanted him to call it individually just in case the caller doesn't need to use all the methods!.
Well, after a long argument with him, we both agreed to use his approach in case the caller is actually gonna use all the methods that's called in the constructor!.. Anyway that's not what I needed to tell u, but, I'm just like u, I just graduated from the Computer science school in Cairo, and I just had a good and a true argument with some1 here!.. what I want to say is, If I'm OK, U'll be!.. :-) I'm actually just like u, hope I continue to be OK!..

But really, U'll learn everything!.. right now, concentrate on whatever u r doing, if u have any questions about the procedures or anything in ur mind u r free to leave me a comment and hopefully I'll be able to answer ur questions!

Microsoft Interview Results!

OK.. Today, I knew that 3 of my friends, including my best friend Emad are going to be offered positions for Dev Div team in Microsoft.. I hope my tips helped all of u to pass.. I also hope that the whole interview process ( doesn't matter if u got accepted or not) had been a nice and a good experience for u. You really met gr8 minds, had the opportunity to talk and chat and solve problems with them.. Had the opportunity to think with them.. Please make it a useful experience for u.. and If u didn't have an offer, study harder for the comeback!..

for anyone who has participated in this interview process (Doesn't have to be exactly these interviews, any interviews that u did with MS even in the past), can u please tell us ur experience, how did u do?, is there anything that anyone should know about?, how to prepare, how did u feel?.. how many questions did u answer?, what do u need to stress on next time in the interviews?.. how did the interviewers talk with u?.. even the simplest stuff that u were curios about before the interview, say it so that others can benefit from it.. waiting for replies.

Microsoft Interview Tips!

Of course since I'm a SDE, I'll talk about tips for SDEs or SDETs interviewing for MS..

Tip #1. Do u love Microsoft?.. want to join MS? why?
U really have to think why do u want to join MS and do u have the passion for technology or what it can do?!.. that's a question u need to ask urself!. Try to read more about Microsoft.. have u heared about something called the green house?.. try to do some homework about the company that u wish to join.

#2. SDE or SDET?.. Prove it!
CODE, CODE, CODE, CODE... U really need to write a lot of code on paper.. think on paper!.. remember there won't be a PC in the interview process, u'll be asked to write a lot of code on paper.. Test and debug your code.. Think, be creative!.
Optimizations.. From now on, whenever u write a piece of code, optimize it.. was it O(n^2)?.. make it O(n*log n) by some sort of binary search or something.. did u do it?.. Why don't u start using pointers, get a handle to the whole input or something, and maybe u'll be able to optimize it to be O(n)!!!

#3. Your CV... 95% Your interviewers will have your CV while interviewing you.
Everything in your CV, U must really know it.. Know ur CV..

#4. It's not all about how much u already know!.. It's about how much u r ready to learn.
It's about ur ability to develop.. and believe me it's totally true, I'm here and I c it myself!.. People in Microsoft have the ability to recognize who have this ability and who don't!.

#5. Communication!!.. how do u communicate with the interviewers?, do they understand u?.. did they get what u really want to say?.. do u understand them?.. how good is ur english?
If your english is not that good, u still need to communicate with ur interviewer, u still need to show him how good u r!.. So, If you didn't understand a question or part of it, after the interviewer finishes, ask him to repeat the question again.. It's really OK to ask, and believe me it's much better than answering a whole different question!. u still need some data?, talk with the interviewer.. Communicate with him!!.. if ur english really doesn't help u, then after u have been asked the question, try to have like 10 sec. or something to put the answer in place in enlgish, and then say it, try to avoid hesitating or talking then stop, then talk again, then stop!.. it makes the interviewer feels that u lack some confidence, and its a kind of miss communication too!.. Ur interviewer might be ur team lead, or team member!, so If u can't communicate with him, he won't be sure to accept u!.

#6. Be ready for the interview!.. u really really need to study very hard!.
Solve all types of puzzles u c.. Data Structures, u have to be able to write full classes of a linked list, trees... etc. on paper!.. what's a stack?, how to test it?.. etc. Searching in a string, string operations, binary search... Sorting, all types of sorting, did u know that there is a sorting algorithm that sorts an array of integers in O(n)?.. read about it, it'll open ur mind to code optimization.

#7. No matter how many questions u've read, no matter how many interview questions u have read... Get ready to c whole new set of questions in ur interview!.
Don't get surprised or afraid from any question.. always expect that u r going to be asked a new question!.. go step by step.. Don't be afraid.. no matter how u think this question is hard or un-solvable. IT IS!.. just start collecting small info, write them down.. go another step forward.. just a small one... U 'll be there!.

I hope u'll remember all these tips, make sure u do them!.. about what to wear, u r free to wear anything!, ur interviewers might be wearing shorts!!. so wear whatever is comfortable.. for example I was wearing a black trousers and a grey T-shirt.. just whatever makes u stop thinking about it!..
I guess that's all what anybody should need in a Microsoft interview!.. but really if u have any questions or need some help with some specific thing that I missed or anything that u have in mind, u r free to leave me a comment and I'll be more than glad to answer or help!.. Hope to c u soon in Microsoft Campus!

Who Am I ?

"Just a normal person with nothing to lose" Academy award winner Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. I just wanted to say this sentence coz I really love it.. about me?, I'm just a normal average guy, love to have fun.. Love to be Free!!


Don't u want to be free?!, Imagine how tied u r right now?, how many things are running thru ur mind?.. don't u want to relax for a while?!, stop thinking.. ur work, ur friends, ur fiancee or wife or girlfriend, ur career, how much u should save each month, how much u owe to some1.. Oh my god, 5 min of peace of mind are considered a treasure these days!..
How r u?....... No really.. How r u?!.. Are u OK.. don't worry, everything is gonna be OK.. everything is really gonna pass.. WOW, don't ever feel alone.. that's a bad feeling, it's weird, no matter how different people are, it's harder than they can stand to be alone!..
so, take a look around u.. Float above ur body.. c urself right now sitting in ur office or ur room, take a look on people around u.. What r they doing?.. How do they feel?.. If ur love is near u, hug him/her.. Call him/her to tell her that u love them.. that they mean the world 2 u..
ask them.. How r u?.. How u doing?.. I just realized that this simple question means the care of the world!.. How are they holding in life..

learn how to relax.. Love.. Stop thinking for a while.. Love ur life.. Thank god for everything u have.. Kiss ur mom & dad telling them that u really appreciate how they did their best to raise u.. be thankful for what u have.. how r ur friends?.. It's amazing how many people are running in my mind right now, even if they think I never think about them, or doesn't even know, but I'm sure I'm also on somebody's mind right now..

I'm not a philosopher and sure not trying to be one.. And I'm sure u have no idea what I'm talking about.. but don't worry.. U'll some day..