Applied Scientist · Phone Screen · Coding

Microsoft — Applied Scientist ❌ Failed

Level: Intern

Round: Phone Screen · Type: Coding · Difficulty: 3/10 · Duration: 60 min · Interviewer: Friendly

Topics: Machine Learning, String Manipulation

Location: Seattle, WA, US

Interview date: 2025-11-20

Got offer: False

Summary

This was a phone screen interview. I was asked about ML foundations, LLM basics, and a Python coding question involving strings.

Details

After introductions, I was asked questions about Machine Learning foundations (bias-variance, accuracy/recall/f1, confidence interval) and LLM basics (Transformer, problems of real-world LLM deployment & solutions). I was also given an easy Python string manipulation question. There were no research questions or behavioral questions. I felt I didn't answer the ML foundation questions well because I didn't prepare for them.