I walk into this room
There he is
The final boss of the game
Literally blacked out
Sighing and dropping my head along the way
Time went by
Awkward silence continued
The hiring manager starting to grow impatient
I had to say something
And I began speaking
blah blah blah, you know
Standard
boring
bullshit
The first thing he said was
That's a great answer
The best I've ever heard in my life!
Welcome to Pirate King. I'm Daniel, a Software Engineer at Microsoft, ex-Software Engineer at Amazon and ebay
and also a Software Engineering Mentor at two educational startups
Here, we talk about tips and tricks on how to land a successful career in tech
In this video, I'm going to reveal my golden answer that mesmerized the hiring manager during my final interview at Microsoft
I immediately knew that I won him over the interview
because shortly after I delivered that finishing blow the hiring manager asked
when can you start?
The story doesn't end there
He liked me and my interview so much that he even directed the recruiter to offer me
the maximum compensation for my level
Long story short, I'm going to unveil my secret weapon that helped me not only land the job at Microsoft
but also walk away with a maxed-out compensation package
Wondering what it is? Stay until the end to find out
Let me start by quickly giving you an overview of how Microsoft interview process looks like
Just like the typical big tech companies, Microsoft's job application process consists of four stages
application, technical phone screen, onsite interview, and the offer
I'm not going to say much about the technical portion of the interviews
I mean, what is there to say?
It's just LeetCode
I'll emphasize, however, that I did clear every single technical round flawlessly
something that's not always easy to do with a tech giant, and something I was surprised myself
But because I did so well in the coding rounds,
I was able to make bold moves during my final interview with the hiring manager
And later even on my salary negotiation
I honestly don't think I would have been able to do so had the odds not been in my favor
But you know how sometimes you feel that everything is simply working to your favor?
Well, to my surprise, that lucky moment was none other than my interview with Microsoft!
An interesting thing about Microsoft's final interview is that it can consist of either three or five rounds
The chances are, you'll walk away without an offer if you completed only three
and with an offer if you stayed for five
It means if your first three interviews don't go too well
they may just say good bye without completing the remaining two
Take this information with a grain of salt as this isn't official
and things might have changed now, but it's something I learned from Blind
So when I was asked to stay for two more hours after my third technical round
I instantly knew that things are indeed in my favor
Another interesting thing about Microsoft that I really love
and is unmatched at any other workplaces is
that you can get your own private office no matter your experience level
So walking into the building filled with hundreds of private offices
and going into a room one by one for each of my interview was definitely an interesting experience
By the way, if you are interested in the strategies on how to ace an interview
click here :)
So, my final round
I walk into this room, the private office of the hiring manager
where he greets me with a smile
He shows me a chair
I sit
Look up
And
there he is
The final boss of the game
If I can only beat this guy. Clear this stage
are the only thoughts in my head
I also noticed that he pulled out my resume
on one of the three monitors on his desk
I could easily recognize it even from a distance because it was mine
We started off by breaking the ice
You know, the usual stuff
Then we talked a little about the previous technical rounds
How they were
How they went
What the most interesting question was, etc
Then he moved on to asking about my experience at Amazon
He was keen to hear about it because
I started interviewing for Microsoft when I had worked for Amazon for only eight months
I won't tell you the nitty gritty details of why I decided to leave Amazon
But I did tell him that
Amazon is a great company
They gave me free Starbucks coffee
A whopping $100 to spend on amazon.com every year
And of course
Free bananas 🍌
You know
I could go on and on and on about
how awesome Amazon is all day
But maybe later on a separate video?
So I explained him all my reasons
Why I decided to leave so early
Why I think it makes sense to look for a new opportunity now
And after what seemed like a nod of understanding
he threw the big question
I remember
repeating the question myself
sighing and dropping my head along the way
Where will I be in five years?
I mean
what kind of question is that?
I honestly did not know what to say at that moment
I was literally blacked out
I mean
What would you say?
Where will you be in five years?
Where will you be in one year?
The next month?
Do you know what I'm saying?
I don't even know where I would be a month from now
yet this guy was asking me where I'd be in five years!
I think I had my head down for more than thirty seconds
Silent
Squeezing my brain to come up with a good answer
At the same time I was thinking
I'm almost there
All that's remaining is
beating this final boss
I just need to clear this stage and walk out!
So my brain was jumping back and forth between this thought and the other
Time went by
Awkward silence continued
And I could see the hiring manager starting to grow impatient
I had to say something
It’s then
I raised my head back up
And remembered that my resume is on the monitor behind him
I gazed into my work history
My entire career journey as a Software Engineer
Where I worked
Where I studied
What I did
My entire life adventure
It's at this moment
something just
"clicked"
And I began speaking
You know
Let's not start by looking ahead
but instead by looking back the past five years
As you can see from my resume
I spent two years studying game development in Japan
another two working for ebay in South Korea
and less than a year working for Amazon in the US
When I graduated CMU
I thought game development was my thing so I flew straight to Tokyo
But even I didn't imagine
that I'd be getting my first full-time job at an ecommerce company, ebay, in South Korea
Then a few years later
I found myself flying back to America to join Amazon in Seattle
Another unexpected turn of event
And like what
Only a few months after joining Amazon
here I am facing you
in what Amazon might call an enemy of theirs
interviewing in the very headquarters of their competitor
Why would that be?
Why am I jumping from a place to place?
A job to job?
A country to country?
I don't have an exact answer
But the number one thing that I ask when changing jobs is
how much can I learn and grow from here
So back to your question of where I'll be in five years
I honestly haven't the slightest idea
where I'll be or what I'll be doing
Whether it be a manager, a senior engineer,
or something that's just completely random!
But there's one thing that I know for sure
And that is
If there's a place such that the future me, five years later
looks back to the past me
And if that future me is able to say
Boy, have I learned a lot since then
Man, have I become a better, a greater person since then
If there's such a place that I can say that
I'll be there
So, I don't know about you guys
But I could definitely see that
the hiring manager really liked my answer
Cuz the first thing he said was
That's a great answer
Probably the best I've ever heard in my life!
Then he began explaining why my answer was unique compared to others
He said that it's his favorite question that he always asks the candidates
And most of them answer by saying something like
I will have become a well respected manager
a Senior Engineer with in-depth engineering expertise
a technical leader setting examples
blah blah blah, you know,
standard
boring
bullshit
He then talked about how he usually expands onto their answers
Why will you have become a manager?
Why would you be a Senior Engineer?
What makes you say that you'll become a leader?
The list can go on and on and on until the one-hour interview time clock expires
However, for him, my answer was definitely outside the norm
and didn’t even find a follow-up questions necessary
So he spent the remaining thirty minutes
trying to waste time by asking random questions cuz he expected that question to be his last
Well, who's unprepared now!
So I remember spending the last ten minutes
talking about how soon I can start
and what working at Microsoft will be like and stuff like that
Anyways, time eventually came, and my interview ended
He walked me out the building promising to get back to me in the next day or two
Another promising sign when it comes to interview results
because companies purposely wait a week to notify rejections out of courtesy
So my recruiter did get back to me in two days
It was a Friday afternoon
I remember it because I spent my weekend free and happy
She explained that my scores for all my interviews are very high
The hiring manager really liked me
And after a few calls back and forth negotiating my salary
she extended an offer with the highest compensation package
the company allows for my level
The rest is history
So how's my story?
It might have looked like I'm showing off again
but I can honestly say that I'm not
In fact, I've never revealed this story to anyone other than my family
But I decided to share it with you because I believe there's a value to it
I didn't really like the question at first
But now that I think about it
not only is it a great interview question
it also is a great, philosophical, life question that
we should all be asking ourselves every day
Where will you be in five years?
How will you answer it yourself?
From my experience
Remember, I haven't the slightest idea where I'll be in five years
But if there's a place that'll help me become a better, a greater person
that's where I'll always be :)
So what do you guys think about my answer?
Do you really think it's "golden"?
Or not really?
Or something in line of
It's good but nothing like amazing or mind blowing?
Let me know in the comments below
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Coming up next is how to effectively prepare for LeetCode
Thanks for watching
I'll see you on the next one
Bye