"Okay, so I'm just a lousy MS contractor (ie, peon). And an anonymous peon, if you see fit to quote me. Nonetheless, your interview page is pretty interesting to read; it's always fun to see how the rest of the world regards things which are uniquely (or relatively) familiar to oneself, right? I have a couple favorite questions I'd love to see added to your page, except that because I made them up myself, I would prefer that they find their own way there. It's more gratifying that way.My real point in writing is this:
All of those questions are secondary to what I perceive as the one truly important thing in an MS interview... See, they don't really care much about whether or not one answers the question(s) correctly. While they are more interested in the approach that one takes to the problem (eg, are you creative, clever, efficient, elegant, etc), that is also secondary. This is what is absolutely key: they want to know what is on your mind. <-- note the period.
The interviewer doesn't want to spend his time trying to figure out where the line is between what you know and what you can intuit on the spot. He wants to know what you're like, not what you think you should be like. While it might seem obvious that authenticity is vital, many people still get the misguided impression that there is a character type they must reflect. The real truth is that if the interviewer ever gets the slightest feeling that you aren't for real, it's over, and no amount of knowledge or intellect on the part of the candidate can change that."