Zoe Goldring and Gretchen Ledgard - What is it like to interview at Microsoft?

One follow-up comment in regards to the recommended interview attire:  My fellow recruiting weblogger, Heather Hamilton,has asked me to point out that I was speaking specifically about people interviewing for Development, Test, and Program Management roles.  For that, it's definitely ok to dress "business casual" (slacks, sweater, button-down, etc), but for marketing roles (for which Heather recruits), you should still wear a suit.  When in doubt, ask your recruiter.  He or she will steer you in the right direction.

Zippy - that's a really good question.  You're right ... we do get a lot of people who apply for positions well beyond their experience and that's always amusing.  Things like:  "I believe that my 5 years as Lead Cook at IHOP has prepared me for the opening as the Director of Windows."  And people are serious. 

As for corporate spies ... wow, that's a good one.  Honestly, I've never thought about that. Kinda like "secret shoppers," huh? 

A couple years ago, it was trendy to make one of those human billboards that read "Hire me" or "Will Code for Food" and then stand on the street corner near MS.  For some reason (and I have no idea why), I was the person typically assigned to greeting them and talking to them about Microsoft.  Never a dull moment ...