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• #1  Carmelo Lisciotto said:

  I definitely agree with Anne.

  Carmelo Lisciotto

  1.29.2008 1:51 PM
• #2  Mon said:

  I think that this is spot on. It is like when people learn speeches off by heart and it sounds unconvincing. The best speeches are those appear off the cuff and I think interviews are the same. Another good tip is to do a role playing exercise with someone out loud so you can verbalize your thoughts before the interview.

  www.jobxblogs.com  

  1.30.2008 12:43 AM
• #3  yaskil said:

  Hi Anne,

  I have been reading this blog more than 2 years. You are always focusing on tips (for cadidates) to get hired or get noticed. What about tips (for interview team) to get hire or to get notice? I doubt you give in-house training for interview teams. I know this post is a bit long but please take time to read it.

  I had two interview experiences with two different teams. In my first experience team was extremely professional. Team had senior members I think this is the difference. I felt valuable while talking with them. Also this experience affected my point of view and strengthen my feelings  about Microsoft (I had always a doubt to leave my country and friends behind. Also I had offer from different companies from different countries and refused them just only stay in the place I belong. I thought Microsoft worths it because you care people and their talents). I respected the job you are doing there and I felt valuable and talented one. After the interview Microsoft has very positive and friendly image on my mind. Sadly, I didn't get the offer. But I received an email saying that "we are impressed with your skills and experience and we want to interview with you again". That was nice. I thought again you care for people, you aware of talent, you count experience etc. which are great things. Later you applied for H1B visa lottery on behalf of me. I am asked for some official docs etc in the following months. You opened Canada development centre and started to meet international candidates again. We had mailed several times with my recruiter (you) during that time. The day of my second interview has arrived (after waiting one year).

  Also during that time I have worked on some different projects (on a international mobile project being used by poeople all around the world. on a robotic project which we achieved to get into scientific citation index with our article and nearly ten small or middle projects). I have never worked as a tester in my professional life which is more than ten years. In order to improve my testing skills I have read a lot of books about testing etc. I tried to improve myself during that time as I always do.

  The day of interview has arrived. I met three people (two testers and a developer) and that is all. My recruiter (not you) told me that they gathered enough information and I am free to go. Finally I have received an email telling that you are not interested in me anymore. Pufff, one year of effort has flown away. Not only my effort but also yours flown away. Notice that I had hold my other opportunities in order to meet you again between two interviews.

  I am wondering, in my second interview does team know how did I perform in my previous interview? Did they know you invited me for second meeting by impressing in my talents? As a result I can easily tell you that either one of these teams is not dominant on the job they are doing or not good at seeking for talents. You know me, we interviewed before, you gave me positive feedback which shows that I am not an empty candidate (I know I am not). Team decided to hire someone company do not know anything about which would be a great risk. They do not even find me to worth of meeting the rest of the team. It is really something difficult to understand. That is why I wrote you should write down tips to get notice and get hire (for team members).

  You are working to find talented people that is your job isn’t it? If you do not give an offer someone you impressed than whom you are looking for? It doesn’t make any sense. You like persistence I know but do not ignore that persistent candidate may be persistent about somewhere else. From my point of view, missing talented candidates and waiting them to be persistent is not a good behaviour. In business if you miss an opportunity you lose money. If you lose your chance to work with talented candidate, you are not only missing their co

  1.30.2008 5:36 AM
• #4  Anne Cheng said:

  Hi Yaskil -

  I made sure to read your post a couple of times.  At the end of it - I was frustrated with you.   You worked really hard and passed up a lot of opportunities to interview with us again.  

  One thing I learned quickly in my role is that recruiting can be an imperfect process.  A company can do their best in training their interviewers to evaluate, but not all qualified candidates will receive an offer at the end of an interview day.   Either it was not a good fit between the candidate's skills/experience with the opportunity or the team decided to pursue other candidates who might have bubbled up in the interview day.  This means sometimes candidates will need to interview with multiple teams which I agree can be painstaking.  

  Another situation that can occur is that a candidate is bright, but may not be quite ready technically for the roles we have available.  In those cases, we see the potential and encourage them to study up a bit arrange a second set of interviews.   Feedback from previous interviews, especially if they had been recent is shared with the new team.  

  As for waiting a year to reapply, there are two possible reasons for this:

  1)  We already have your resume and the recruiter will consider you for positions that may open up.

  2)  They would like to give the candidate a year to keep building their skill set.  When I look at resumes from candidates that have interviewed with Microsoft in the past, I typically look for what has changed on their resume from their interview date.  Maybe they took on a bigger role in their company or picked up a new programming language.  I also look to see which team they interviewed with previously and whether my opportunities might be a better fit.    

  I encourage you to consider those other opportunities you mentioned you had been passing on.  If you are interested in interviewing with Microsoft in the future, I encourage you to reapply.  Sometimes this just has to do with timing - right role that opens up at the same time you are looking to pursue a new opportunity.

  I hope I was able to share some insights that would be helpful and I want to thank you for all the effort you have put in.  

  Anne

  1.31.2008 12:18 AM
• #5  yaskil said:

  Hi Anne,

  Thank you very much for your time and the information you shared. I want to state that you have always been kind to me and I appreciate that. You are one of my bests I have contacted in Microsoft so far.  I did not mean to frustrate you or anyone. I tried to express things with a different perspective. Be sure that I am not kind of person who easily give up but this time I feel I am at the end of this road, that is why I think all our effort has flown away. That is the whole story.

  1.31.2008 10:15 AM
• #6  said:

  I always like the tried and true method.

  "If at first you don't succeed, Try try again."

  In the meantime you can try getting involved in user groups, events or whatever is in your area.  I still haven't made it in but that won't kill my dreams.  

  While I hope, I try to keep involved in whatever ways I can.  I try to go whatever events are nearby, keep inspired, try to keep on top of technology and hopefully don't over Twitter blast too many friends in the process.... :)

  I know in the short term I have weak points (we all do) but I try in whatever ways to build and enhance them to levels where SOMEBODY at one point is going to sit up, take notice and say "Hey I think we're just going to HAVE to find something for this guy."

  I think it's the same for all of us.  

  Don't get me wrong, there are days you can get discouraged but if you don't try, you'll never get a chance at succeeding.

  And you might just end up meeting some new friends and growing in the process.

  It's still a win win situation.

  Sean

  Friday Funny Guy

  2.06.2008 4:09 PM
• #7  said:

  Actually here's a tip for those of us who've ever done a phone conference interview.  

  I was SUPER nervous on one.   And the one I succeeded on the best this was how I did it.

  No magic.

  I just treated it like a real interview that it was, booked the afternoon off.  Sat down and hour before.  Got some fresh fruit to snack on just before and relaxed myself.  

  My worst was where I "Energized myself" and let my enthusiast out.   To this day in my past year of pushing myself forward, I dread this the most.   For it was a position that other than my lack of Enterprise experience would have fit me.    

  Sometimes you have to remember that your technical might be done by your manager.   Good helps, but you also have to remember in many of these positions to have to be professional as well. (Something I do on a daily basis) but I was SOOOO excited about this position I couldn't contain myself.

  A mistake.  It happened.  I actually cried (yeah me a guy, it happens) and went back to this with a renewed vigor.

  Hope this helps others.

  Learn from your mistakes, don't dwell on them.

  2.06.2008 10:40 PM
• #8  Ruchira said:

  Hi Anne,

  I've a question here: I've received calls from Long Island Dev Center as well as NC Dev Center. Can I interview with both the teams at the same time?

  Is there a restriction on how many msft teams I can interview simultaneously?

  Thanks,

  Ruchira

  2.27.2008 2:17 PM
• #9  Ruchira said:

  Also, if I don't get selected, is there a minimum time that I have to wait for the next msft interview?

  Ruchira

  2.27.2008 2:22 PM