Microsoft | Software Engineer IC2/IC3 | Redmond WA | Reject

I recently participated in a Microsoft hiring event. The event consisted of four rounds with a 15-minute break between each round and a 1-hour lunch break after the second round.

1. Round 1: Kth Largest Element in an Array, follow-up questions + 2 behavioral questions.
2. Round 2: This round was intended to be a high-level design discussion; however, the interviewer delved into a detailed review of my recent project. Thorough knowledge of the project was essential. + 2 behavioral questions.
3. Round 3: Find the Shortest Path in a Grid, given source and destination coordinates. + 1 behavioral question.
4. Round 4: Convert a string to numbers using Test-Driven Development (TDD), using a traditional phone keypad mapping (e.g., "abc": 2, "def": 3, etc.). The interviewer asked many questions about constraints. I successfully coded and executed the solution, and the interviewer was satisfied. + 2 behavioral questions.

Rounds 1, 2, and 4 went well; however, in Round 3, my code did not return the shortest path. I received a rejection notice from the recruiter within two business days. I hope this experience is helpful to others.