Hey everybody! I was an explorer summer of 2019, and I've had quite a few people dming me about my experience so I thought I'd compile it & post it publicly!

Timeline

• Sent out an application end of August, within a week of applications opening up

• Contacted mid-September to do an on-campus interview the next week

• Heard back at the beginning of October to sign up for an on-site at the end of November

• Received offer beginning of December with 2 weeks to accept/decline

My Resume

Horrible. No project experience, no past internships. I had only taken a 2-semester introductory class at the time of applying. Points in my favor were that I had a 3.9GPA and I went to a target school.

Interviews

• First round: string manipulation and behavioral questions

• On-site: simple tree question, conceptual questions, PM-style questions, and behavioral questions

Advice

• Apply as early as possible. Although I did have friends who applied much later and received their offer in January/February, Microsoft does run out of spots, so I would keep an eye out for the application and apply as soon as you can.

• Focus on your resume!! The interview is extremely easy, and this is coming from somebody who had to self-study trees and linked lists and other data structures because I hadn't even gotten to it in class. If you can get through the resume screening, the rest is easy from there. I would highly recommend doing a project if you haven't and putting it on your resume. Highlight any experience you have. If you're too experienced for explore, they will reroute you for the SWE internship (or PM if you're interested in that).

• If you know somebody who is on good terms with your campus recruiter, a referral can be very helpful. Not necessary though — I applied online with no referral and somehow made it through.

• You do NOT need experience for this internship. Like I said, I had absolutely 0 experience and had to self study data structures for the interview. If you're an incoming freshman/just changed your major to CS, don't let that put you off!! This internship was made for people like you.

• You can apply to multiple internships (explore and PM, for example) but they will make the choice for you as to which internship you should interview for.

Finally, please apply for this internship if you are at all interested!! It was an absolutely amazing experience that I'd recommend to anybody. Microsoft has an awesome internship program, they pay pretty well ($32/hour in 2019, not sure if that's changed), and it's altogether a great experience. And you do not actually need to be an URM in the strictest sense. There were white male explorer interns, who talked about their socioeconomic class/cultural background for their diversity. Seriously, if you're even thinking about it, apply. Worst they can do is say no. :)

I'm happy to do resume reviews and chat privately if you're interested in learning more. Hope this helps!