Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Experience — Disagreement over a Number Parser

I was asked to convert written numbers from different languages into numeric values. I proposed combining language-specific groups, but the interviewer wanted a stack-based approach and pushed for a more general design.

I understood the requirement as avoiding predefined language rules. I consulted an AI assistant and a Python library, but we did not resolve the misunderstanding before time ran out. The interviewer eventually explained that word-to-number mappings were still needed; the stack was meant to avoid separate grouping rules. I remained unconvinced that it simplified the configuration much.

After I failed this round, my planned final interview was canceled. I had been searching for work for a long time and found this result particularly frustrating. In an earlier interview with another Microsoft team, I had accepted a rejection after failing coding test cases. This time, I felt the problem was being expected to arrive at the interviewer's preferred approach.