At MDCS we deeply care about all our employees and candidates. We hire the very best talent. Our team has grown significantly over the last 15 years – the team has 50 times more engineers than the starting team in 2005. Our ambitions are even higher! We are the centre of technological excellence and our teams are very well recognized at Microsoft globally.
We have over 400 engineers. Yet, 3 out of 12 new products or features mentioned at the Ignite 2019 keynote speech were completely or partially done at Microsoft Development Center Serbia (MDCS). If you’re interested in joining our diverse team in Belgrade, please read the following interview with Bojan Rošić, MDCS’s Recruiter Lead, to get acquainted with our hiring team and learn more about our hiring process.
When did you join the MDCS team and what excites you the most about your job?
I’ve joined MDCS more than 8 years ago, my MDCS anniversary was in January. I’ve grown together with the company and have expanded my responsibilities quite a lot since 2013. My core responsibility is to hire the best talent at MDCS. I very much enjoy the current growth that we’re experiencing and many dozens of open positions that we have in 2021.
The part that still excites me the most about my job is the interview with the candidates themselves. That’s where I learn the most about them. I get to meet so many different people with different competencies and I get to test my ability to assess these competencies later.
The goal of each interview process is to hire new colleagues that will help us create cutting edge technologies and improve the life of every single individual.
What does the interview process at MDCS look like?
The interview process is a deep dive into your competencies and skills. The first step is that you submit your application through the Careers page. Afterwards, you will be invited to the online coding test that covers basic coding, algorithms, and data structures. Besides assessing the correctness of your solutions, we are also looking at performance, so try to submit a solution as efficiently as possible. For non-Software Engineer positions, like Mechanical Engineer, Data Scientist, Program Manager, you get different tasks or problems to solve.
The final step in this process is the online interview. It typically consists of 4 interviews within the same day. Your interviewers are Software Engineers from different engineering teams in MDCS. The main focus during the interview is on your technical knowledge. We ask you to solve some direct problems, or to give examples from previous projects you worked on. There is also the collaboration and communication competence that we assess as well. Teamwork is very important at MDCS. Your motivation and passion for the discipline you applied for is also an important part of the interview.
People often think that in big tech companies there are many trick questions during the interview – but there are no trick questions here. The point of this interview is to create an environment where we can get to know you better. But also, that you get to know us better.
Any tips on how to prepare for the interview at MDCS?
Let’s start with the basic tips first – sleep well before the interview. Think about your hydration and nutrition. Please make sure to eat something before the interview or keep some snacks close to keep you energized. This is something that we’ve noticed over the years. People forget about their nutrition because they are nervous before the interview. Do not be nervous.
As I’ve mentioned before, this is an environment where you can present yourself in the best possible manner. Be honest – that is the most important thing I would suggest to any candidate. The trust which you build with your interviewer is of immense importance. What inspires you to join MDCS? How would you solve some problems or what are some examples from previous projects you worked on? These are some of the questions you might face. Do not be afraid to pause for a minute, give it some thought and respond. Communicate openly with your interviewer. Ask them to clarify their questions. Prepare your own questions for the end of the interview. As mentioned above, this is a bi-directional process. We are interviewing you. And you are interviewing us.
What are the open positions that you have now and what is the type of candidate that MDCS is looking for?
We are looking for people with a strong fundamental knowledge of computer science. People who are passionate about computer science. People who want to learn – one of the greatest things at MDCS are the learning opportunities that we have here. We’re also looking for people who want to build and create features for the products we’re working on. Most of our projects are team projects and you need to be a part of the team in order to contribute. In essence, we’re looking for people who are great team members.
You can find all our open positions at the Microsoft Careers Website. Make sure to check out the open positions and apply!
