A Microsoft PM tracks her story from aspiring astronaut to apprentice to SDET to PM to UX student The geek in question Dana Badeen

The job title Program Manager, Engineering Innovation (Windows Server)

So, Dana. What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I started college at the University of Michigan, I wanted to be an astronaut. After two years in the Aerospace program I realized that the chances of actually getting into the Astronaut program are worse than getting struck by lightning! And even if you get into the program, you only have a one-third chance of making it to space.

So I looked for something new. I considered going into art, but I couldn't really justify starting all over with my degree. At that point, I was two years into Engineering, so I figured I'd just finish up with more of a business-focused engineering degree — Industrial and Operations Engineering.

How'd you get into testing and program management without a CS degree?
While applying for Michigan's Math PhD program, I randomly heard about Microsoft's Test Apprentice Program and applied for that on a whim. I came out for an interview, and got an offer the next day.

The Apprenticeship program is nine months long — you work half the time with a team, and then half the time you have classes taught by professors hired by Microsoft. Nobody in my apprenticeship group had a Computer Science background. We'd all dabbled — I was really good at MATLAB and there was a guy who was really good at Fortran — but none of us had direct experience. There were a lot of us with math and biology backgrounds, and some physics. From what I've heard, last year there were a couple of English majors in the program!

And what are you doing now?
At the end of the Apprenticeship program, I shifted into being full time on my team in an SDET role within Windows Server. A year and a half later I became a PM. My team focuses on the overall quality of Windows Server by pushing quality standards into the OS itself and into applications (MS and non-MS) that run on it. Kind of a whole ecosystem approach. I work a lot on the Server app logo programs and recently took on heading up application compatibility on WS08. I'm also the liaison between Server test teams and WinSE (Windows Sustainability). Oh, and I own a testing tool that lives in WTT (Windows Test Technologies) called Scenario Builder and host a monthly test talk series for Server teams.

Ok, so aspiring astronaut to SDET to PM. Whew! What's next?
Now that I've found myself a responsible career, I'm going back and pursuing my other passion, which is art. I'm really interested in how people interact with products, so I'm actually going back to school for a visual communications degree. Microsoft is paying for a chunk of my tuition — I've been talking to UX designers here, and would like to switch into that role. I have a good background for UX work — if you've work with a product and understand the code behind it, it's going to be easier to understand the face of it.

I'm trying to still pull 40 hours at work — I work from 8 until 2, go to class, and then power up my laptop at a café around 5pm to finish up a couple hours. The flexibility is great.

Feeling clicky? Have I got links for you.
Microsoft Test Apprentice Program Innovate on Windows Server (Dana's team site) PM at Microsoft post from JobsBlog Windows Server Test Talks (Microsoft internal page)