Microsoft Corporation Program Manager Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Q1. Design an app for attractions in a city.
Ans. 
An app to explore attractions in a city
• Include a map feature to help users navigate

• Allow users to filter attractions by category (e.g. museums, parks, restaurants)

• Include reviews and ratings from other users

• Offer discounts or promotions for certain attractions

• Allow users to save their favorite attractions for future reference
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Q1. Reverse a Linked list using only two pointers.
Ans. 
Reverse a linked list using two pointers.
• Use two pointers, one to keep track of the current node and another to keep track of the previous node.

• Iterate through the linked list, updating the pointers as you go.

• Set the next node of the current node to be the previous node.

• Return the new head of the reversed linked list.
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Q2. Design a drone-based solution for farmers.
Ans. 
A drone-based solution for farmers to monitor crops and optimize yield.
• The drone will be equipped with high-resolution cameras to capture images of the crops.

• The images will be analyzed using machine learning algorithms to detect any signs of disease or stress in the crops.

• The drone will also be able to collect data on soil moisture levels and nutrient content.

• The data collected by the drone will be used to generate re...read more
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Q3. Design an editor for very large files (in terabytes).
Ans. 
Design an editor for very large files (in terabytes).
• Use memory-mapped files to access data on disk

• Implement lazy loading to load only the necessary parts of the file

• Use compression techniques to reduce the size of the data in memory

• Provide search and indexing functionality to quickly navigate through the file

• Implement multi-threading to improve performance

• Consider using distributed computing to handle extremely large
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Q1. What next are you looking for in your career? What direction is it going in?
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Q2. How will you remove detect Fake news on Facebook?
Ans. 
Fake news on Facebook can be detected through a combination of AI and human fact-checkers.
• Develop and implement AI algorithms to identify suspicious content

• Partner with third-party fact-checkers to verify the accuracy of news stories

• Encourage users to report fake news through a user-friendly reporting system

• Provide education and resources to help users identify and avoid fake news

• Continuously monitor and update the sys
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Q1. Design a voice assistant for elderly folks.
Ans. 
Design a voice assistant for elderly folks.
• Use simple and clear language

• Provide options for larger font sizes and high contrast display

• Include reminders for medication and appointments

• Allow for voice commands to make phone calls or send messages

• Incorporate emergency response features

• Provide access to news, weather, and entertainment

• Ensure privacy and security measures are in place
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Q2. Why Microsoft? What are your goals out of your next job? What sort of products are you targeting?
Ans. 
Microsoft is a leader in technology and innovation. My goal is to contribute to the development of cutting-edge products.
• I am attracted to Microsoft's commitment to innovation and its reputation as a leader in the tech industry.

• My goal is to contribute to the development of cutting-edge products that will have a positive impact on people's lives.

• I am particularly interested in working on products that leverage emerging...read more
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Q1. Design a news app for Youngsters - This was the GD round, but Microsoft took one on one interviews
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Q2. . I was also asked how the backend of the news app would look like. This round lasted around 35 mins
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Q1. To design a platform that helps users know about the relationship between celebrities (something like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon). . I was asked how to implement it
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Q2. I was also asked questions like what a database is, how is a database different from a data warehouse
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Q3. What is Business Intelligence, what is predictive analytics? Give an example of both
Ans. 
Business Intelligence is analyzing data to make informed business decisions. Predictive analytics is using data to predict future outcomes.
• Business Intelligence involves collecting, analyzing, and presenting data to help businesses make informed decisions

• Predictive analytics uses statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze historical data and make predictions about future outcomes

• Example of Busine...read more
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Q4. How would you implement predictive analytics in this question to make the platform better?
Ans. 
Predictive analytics can improve the platform by providing insights into user behavior and preferences.
• Collect and analyze user data to identify patterns and trends

• Use machine learning algorithms to predict user behavior and preferences

• Implement personalized recommendations based on predictive analytics

• Continuously monitor and update the predictive models to improve accuracy
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Q5. I was also asked to draw the UI of the platform. I was asked questions on Amazon Redshift - what is it? what makes it unique? What are its competitors? What's the difference between Redshift and MySQL Serv...read more
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Q1. - Design a platform for wedding planners in India - The interviewer gave me a background of the problem
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Q1. Design a personal assistant for a physical shoe store that eliminates the need of a salesman
Ans. 
A personal assistant for a physical shoe store that eliminates the need of a salesman
• Develop a mobile app that allows customers to scan the barcode of a shoe and get all the necessary information about it

• Include a virtual try-on feature that uses augmented reality to show customers how the shoe would look on their feet

• Integrate a chatbot that can answer customer queries and provide personalized recommendations

• Use senso...read more
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Q2. . I was asked to define the customer, what sort of shoe stores would this work at? and how the personal assistant would work. I was also asked which Team in Microsoft would I like to join and why? What sho...read more
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Q3. What should Microsoft focus on in the near future and why?
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How would you integrate tech to improve customer experience of any public place like amusement park, sporting events, historical sites, etc.
A- For this I picked up Universal studio as my area of work. Applying CIRCLES framework aggressively,
I started with defining the customer persona -
Families with small kids, youth, older population (45+), school children Then i picked up on the issues they face currently - prioritizing issues of long waiting time in lines for rides like roller coasters and creating a memorable experience by getting pics clicked at crucial moments/candid pics

Once getting the defined on above lines, i moved onto creating solutions.My basic idea was to get customized app made for the park, which can be downloaded on entry. It would have a map of the place, point user's location and show his colleagues
if they separate out for trying different rides.
this would help large groups to not keep calling but reach out directly to fellows.

The next important feature i would include is generating a "customized route" for the
user based on his interest. E.g. if the user is aged 25 and is adventurous and risk taker, the route will direct him to those rides which would satisfy his need. for another user who is 12-14 years old, the route would be different.

Lastly, the app will show the latest waiting time for all rides. it would be a indicator for anyone to make his/her decision to move towards that ride rather than going all the way there and finding out. this would give user a clear view and will act as load balancer for the park.

Lastly, the app will be used to push notification to the user - about the Hollywood parade starting time or the adventure show timings.

Once the scope was defined, i made a quick wireframe of the app along with discussion
with the interviewer.

Post this, I analyzed some risks -
1. the app may direct a lot of crowd to same place and this would add to waiting issues.
To counter this, i suggested on using GPS services and having a real time data on where
the customers are and accordingly, giving updates to new users for different rides and
balancing the load

2. The battery usage would be huge - for this, I suggested to have charging points inside the locker where every user has to submit his belongings before going for the ride. This would actually assist users in getting quick charge on every ride we also discussed the implementation strategy on what resources would be needed which was short and quick.

Design Bing for kids (up to 10 years).
- now this was ideal case of applying the Circles Framework again. I started with what’s the current situation - The UI is not cool - internet and search engine usage is difficult for kids to adapt - Language barriers (since most kids speak their native language and English can be tedious) - too long and complex content with high vocabulary isn’t acceptable to kids - too much text - no fun - internet access to poor is low Once this was discussed in detail, we moved onto identifying our customers and their attributes - Kids in age of 6-10 - need internet mostly for school homework’s - interested in games and fun - like color and images over text - Language has to be made easy - Child lock/ Parental control facility needed to avoid exposure to unwanted content - lite pages for poor who have limited data packs The basic need identified was "creating a search engine which is focused on kids with cool, fun and colorful search results in various languages and based on lite pages for easy search and download" Then I enquired on whether I have to start from zero and make a new Bing altogether, or use current version and have a toggle between normal Bing and Kind Bling. On this the interviewer mentioned about using a single product but having various versions. Once this was confirmed, I decided that I would be prioritizing language settings and colorful, fun searches in phase 1 I started listing solutions - on opening Edge, Bing would come up with profile-based images. for normal user, a password would be asked For kids’ profile, there would be no password and would directly load the Kid Bing homepage with a game of the day present there. BTC Interview Handbook Co2019 19 the search box would be big and there would be autocorrect feature present as kids can make mistakes while searching and using AI, the system should be able to rectify the input for proper search. Secondly, on search, there would be 2 features present - Only Display result and Display Audio result the results would be only those which have kid content flag marked on it. This would be an activity which has to be done in backend while mapping and indexing the pages. the flag would be a new attribute for every page uploaded onto the net. Once the search is over and results appear, firstly, the font or image would be too huge, there would not be much scroll feature available, but the page layout would be in sort of a book with "Turn page" / "arrow" marked on the right side for next page. This would give them a feel of using a book. There would be audio feature available besides the search and the kid can click on play button for listening to the content. the language would be both - English and regional. Lastly, the whole of history would be stored for every session which would be available for parents/guardians/teachers. This will not only help in control but also to refer to the pages which the kid saw and not wants to use but forgot to bookmark or copy the data. While this discussion was being done, I also made a framework on the paper which assisted me in explaining my solution. The fun game part was a brownie solution as the interviewer seemed to like it when i explained that this would actually be a crowd-puller, encouraging kids to play the game and then see how they performed over time. the games would be analytics and GK based and would act as barrier-breaker for parents to allow their children to access net. The Risks highlighted were - Support of regional voiceovers - Disturbance to surroundings by kids misusing this feature - Reworking on the indexing of the whole content on the engine The discussion ended here, and the interviewer highlighted about the missing point of usage of current search data to identify what is primarily being searched in schools and learning from it to determine the new content to be made.

How can you use mobile phones for quality control of a bottle making plant?
I first started with gathering more information from the interviewer about what is the plant about? How’s the process of bottling? What is the current process for quality control?

The scope of discussion post above questions was just to make sure that every bottle that comes out from the assembly line is proper. If yes - accept it, if no reject it. this is currently being done by humans and i was given liberty to use only mobile phones to make the process automated. My customer in this scenario was a small-scale bottling factory.

There was no need to focus further on needs and thus i moved onto designing the solution. I first introduced hawk eye process to the interviewer. I knew a bit about it and thus explained that one of the ways to complete this process is using 6 cameras adjusted at particular angles to capture the 3D image of the bottle. then there was a question on orientation, for which I advise on having a marking on the bottle, a line running from the top to the bottom which would be taken as reference and the image would be aligned accordingly.

This would then be checked with the ideal image and if ok, it would be passed else thrown out. Lastly, I highlighted about the issue of not able to capture the image from below as the conveyor belt would not be opaque. for this, the interviewer highlighted that this can be ignored.

Post this, I worked on costing for a bit and suggested the pricing would be based on service and not the product. It would be given out on rent and payment collected annually. This helps us in recurring revenue and also a good way to perform B2B marketing by constant interactions. BTC Interview Handbook Co2019 18 the risk was again about the battery usage and low definition cameras, but this were countered by low cost phones available today and a constant power supply providing ability at the factory. also, the backend program would have to be developed in-house to check for quality and that can be improved in multiple iterations and new versions upgrade.

Q1. Design Bing for kids (up to 10 years)
Ans. 
Bing for kids up to 10 years should be colorful, interactive, and educational.
• Use bright colors and fun animations to engage kids

• Include educational content such as games, quizzes, and videos

• Ensure safety by filtering out inappropriate content and limiting access to certain features

• Make it easy for kids to navigate and search for age-appropriate content

• Include parental controls and monitoring tools

• Partner with trusted ...read more
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This was the last round with a very senior person from the firm We started by discussing cricket as it was one of the extra-curricular activity mentioned in my resume.

There were some behavioral questions on what you learn from cricket, how do you plan to incorporate the learnings into your work environment, have you ever captained the team (on saying yes) What are your key learnings on team management?
The discussion went on for around 20 minutes and this eased the pressure of the final round. Then we went onto a short discussion

Microsoft is thinking of incorporating speech-bot for movie booking on Bing to replace the current process of search and book- You are the product manager for Bing overall- what is your view?
In this case, I initially started with applying the framework again but was cut short by the interviewer. He asked me to directly jump to the core issue of what is good, what isn’t and give a suggestion.

So i quickly moved to the pros of Speech botAdvantages- Easy, Fast, Exciting, doesn’t require attention to the screen, tickets can be
booked on the go - while driving, travelling, walking it is the new tech which Microsoft is investing in (as shared by the interviewer) and thus there is a need to incorporate it in many more products. Movie booking can be the pilot for integration with Bing and thereon it can be expanded into different searches. Here I quoted about the Bing for Children (from last case :P)

Then I moved onto disadvantages- the biggest one for me was disturbance and lose of privacy while making such bookings, others were disturbance, still not a foolproof technology, lot of languages present in India, pronunciation difference across people, limited results

I gave example of each disadvantage

Loss of privacy - what if a son is planning to go for movie with girlfriend or friends and while booking, if he uses speech, the parents may come to know which he doesn’t want - so he would avoid

Disturbance - although a person may use earphones to hear the bot but while speaking, he may disturb others - say a person booking tickets in office

Disturbance - In India, there is a huge crowd at public places like metro and local train and thus the chat could be impacted by noises around. the user may have to shout at times

Not foolproof - I gave example of Bhagat Singh movie (from top of the mind) and highlighted there are multiple movies with same name, so giving additional information which would take a long time may get incorrectly reported with the bot.

Languages - Easily explained through multiple film industries in India in regional languages and thus the bot has to cater to many such languages pronunciation - In India, again there maybe children or not English-speaking people who maybe wanting to go for English cartoon movie but they lack the clear pronunciation and these may lead to errors E.g. going for Ratatouille

Based on above, and with discussions on each, i took the decision that i would not like to incorporate speech bot in Bing as of now.

He was convinced but followed with another question - that while you took the decision, the VP of Speech Bot who reports to CXO member has reached out to you - highlighting that this incorporation needs to be done. what will be your response?
I replied with a firm NO for current day's implementation. I said that although there is a lot of push, i would highlight the same disadvantages to the VP, make him understand the issues, if there is any disagreement - I would recommend to go for a market study and check how a sample population is responding to the change and that would provide us a better evidence for decision making.

As the intention is to incorporate speech bot and movies was a suggestion, I would also look at other possibilities for speech bot rather than movies - like story reading, novel reading or news reading. Maybe Food booking services.

However, in the end if the push is still on, I would go ahead but with the disclaimer highlighted to all my stakeholders. The interview ended post 45-50 min. This was the last round and then i was offered PM2 role in Microsoft.

Q1. Design a news app for younger generation
Ans. 
A news app designed for the younger generation to provide personalized and interactive news content.
• Focus on visual storytelling with engaging multimedia content

• Include social media integration for easy sharing and discussion

• Offer personalized news recommendations based on user preferences and browsing history

• Incorporate gamification elements to encourage user engagement and learning

• Provide a user-friendly interface wi...read more
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Resume walkthrough in brief

Algorithm and data structure that can be used to reverse a string converted into text by Cortana - assume a separate engine records the speech and converts to text to the best of its ability. Work with whatever you get

What challenges could you envision in reversing the string - again assume the above

Suggest a couple of new use cases for Cortana on laptop - very simple use cases (Cortana can't take dictation)

Q1. Discussed the experience behind the MS PM Challenge for 10 mins.
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Q2. Launch Bing for France (Market Entry) a. What factors to look at ? b. What data sources ? What can be used from pre-existing (made me write 20+) and what new is required? c. Which market segment to target ...read more
Ans. 
Factors, data sources, and market segment for launching Bing in France
• Factors to consider: language, culture, competition, user behavior

• Data sources: market research, user surveys, competitor analysis

• Pre-existing data: user demographics, search trends, market share

• New data required: local user preferences, language nuances

• Market segment: choose based on target audience, competition, growth potential
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Q3. . Design the user experience for the selected business category assuming a certain query - lots of follow-up questions as I went ahead
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Q1. A small discussion around case competitions I had done and why PM. Why Microsoft ?
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Q2. . Design a attendance feature for WhatsApp for SME business who typically take attendance on registers a. asked me write problems of using a register b. Design the feature and lots of follow up questions o...read more
Ans. 
Design an attendance feature for WhatsApp for SME business
• Identify problems with using a register for attendance

• Design a feature that allows employees to mark attendance on WhatsApp

• Include features like location tracking and time stamping

• Ensure data privacy and security

• Provide analytics and reporting options for employers
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Q3. Re design the checkout experience for any ecommerce of choice
Ans. 
Redesign checkout experience for an ecommerce site
• Simplify the checkout process by reducing the number of steps

• Provide clear and concise instructions throughout the process

• Offer multiple payment options to cater to different customers

• Include a progress bar to show customers how far they are in the checkout process

• Allow customers to review their order before finalizing the purchase

• Provide an option for guest checkout to...read more
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Q1. Design a News App for younger generation.
Ans. 
A news app for younger generation with personalized content and interactive features.
• Allow users to select their interests and personalize their news feed

• Include interactive features like polls, quizzes, and comments to engage users

• Incorporate social media integration to share news and connect with friends

• Include a section for trending news and breaking news alerts

• Design a user-friendly interface with easy navigation a
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Q1. Resume Walkthrough in depth
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Q2. One big feature I don’t like in Ola and Why?
Ans. 
I don't like the surge pricing feature in Ola.
• Surge pricing can be unpredictable and inconvenient for users.

• It can also lead to a negative user experience and loss of trust in the platform.

• Alternative pricing models like flat rates or dynamic pricing based on distance and time can be explored.

• For example, Uber uses dynamic pricing based on demand and supply, which is more transparent and predictable for users.
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Q3. One big feature I’d like to add to Ola?
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Q1. Design Bing for Kids and follow up questions.
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Q2. Product strategy discussion for Bing and competitor google search
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Q3. One product I like – reasons for liking it, what feature would I add to it?
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Q4. Product strategy discussion between Paytm and Google Pay
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Q1. Designing related products recommendations in Bing Shopping.
Ans. 
Designing related products recommendations in Bing Shopping.
• Analyze user search history and purchase behavior

• Use machine learning algorithms to suggest related products

• Consider product attributes and user preferences

• Provide personalized recommendations based on user feedback

• Collaborate with merchants to improve product data quality
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Q2. Why Microsoft? Follow up question: Most used/ favorite product of Microsoft.
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Q3. Difference between good team and bad team. Personal experiences around it.
Ans. 
Good teams have clear communication, trust, and collaboration while bad teams lack these qualities.
• Good teams have open and honest communication

• Good teams trust each other and work towards a common goal

• Good teams collaborate and share ideas

• Bad teams have poor communication and lack trust

• Bad teams have members who work against each other instead of together

• Bad teams have a lack of accountability and responsibility

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Q4. What else should Microsoft do?
Ans. 
Microsoft should focus on improving accessibility and inclusivity in their products and services.
• Invest in developing assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

• Ensure that all products and services are designed with accessibility in mind.

• Provide training and resources for developers to create accessible software.

• Partner with organizations that advocate for disability rights and inclusion.

• Include diverse persp...read more
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Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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Q2. Tell me about your work. Explain some technical architecture of any project on your resume.
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Q3. How would you go about building a crowd-sourced knowledge management portal.
Ans. 
A crowd-sourced knowledge management portal can be built by following these steps.
• Identify the target audience and their needs

• Choose a platform for the portal (e.g. WordPress, Drupal)

• Create a user-friendly interface for submitting and searching information

• Implement a system for verifying and moderating user-generated content

• Encourage user participation through incentives and gamification

• Regularly update and maintain th...read more
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Q4. Technical architecture for the same knowledge management portal.
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Q1. Walk me through your resume.
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Q2. There are a ton of applications targeting music industry. I think there is still some gap in the industry that is not yet fulfilled. Can you create something in this space which could be viable?
Ans. 
Yes, we can create a platform that connects independent artists with local venues for live performances.
• Create a platform that allows independent artists to showcase their music and connect with local venues for live performances

• Include features such as booking, scheduling, and payment processing

• Provide a rating system for both artists and venues to ensure quality performances

• Partner with local music schools and organi...read more
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Q3. How would you build a text editor kind of application, which had to read a 3 TB file, how much of the file would you display(classic scrolling/pre-fetch problem), how would search work, jumping instantly...read more
Ans. 
Building a text editor for a 3 TB file with efficient scrolling and search functionality.
• Implement virtual scrolling to display only a portion of the file at a time

• Use pre-fetching to load the next portion of the file in the background

• Implement efficient search algorithms like binary search or indexing

• Allow users to jump to any entry by implementing a table of contents or index

• Consider using compression techniques to r
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Q1. Why PM? Why Microsoft?
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Q2. Build a web-scrapper for a search engine
Ans. 
To build a web-scraper for a search engine, we need to identify the target website, select the data to be scraped, and use a programming language to write the scraper.
• Identify the target website and the data to be scraped

• Choose a programming language and a web-scraping library

• Write the code to extract the data and store it in a database

• Test the scraper and refine it as needed
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Q3. I(interviewer) am an engineer. Tell me what I need to do. Where do I start?
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Q1. Tell me about yourself
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Q1. Interesting project I worked on
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Q1. Case study on pricing of dishes in a QSR model
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Q1. Why Microsoft ? Why this profile?
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