Summer in the City: Bring on the Interns
Posted Tuesday, May 27 2008 by The JobsBloggers
Hello friends! It’s been a while since my last post, it feels good to be back! The college recruiting cycle is quickly coming to an end, the sun is starting to pop out (yay!) and we just had our first few batches of interns come out to the Redmond offices to start their 12 week internships.
Our intern program is open to anyone who attends any college or university within the US, and on average we have about 1000 interns during our peak season. Interns are great. They're a reminder of all the things that I love about Microsoft. They are super enthusiastic, they are passionate, they are full of ideas and they are here to make an impact. They are also critical, incredibly smart, not fooled easily and are always making us look at our business and products in a new way (which is the real fun part).
Over the next few weeks I will be inviting some of my interns to share some of their great moments and their tough times with the jobsblog. I always find college students to be incredibly honest. They keep recruiters on our toes! Every Tuesday from May through July a large group of interns start, and as their school recruiter we meet them for lunch during their orientation break. It’s their first day, and some are incredibly nervous, some have heard it all before, but they all share one thing - they are the future of Microsoft. They are the future CEOs, the future Architects, the next Ballmer and Gates of the company. Some come in loving Microsoft already, some come in with a more critical view. We welcome all types!
It really is my favorite time of year. I always try to make a great impression and see to it that they have a wonderful time. Who knows, they may be signing my paycheck in a few years. :-)
- Janelle
2 commentsTagged as: janelle, working-at-msft
Comments
That sounds like a wonderful opportunity for our "new" work force of the future! I had a question that I hope is not "too" tangent to your thread about internships at MS. Does Microsoft have any sort of "professional Internship" opportunities available to those business professionals who have a goal of working at Microsoft and would like to prove their passion, potential, and value to potential hiring managers?
I would love to work for Microsoft, but as of yet the resume submission process online through the MS careers site has not rendered any interest, or may have failed to get noticed in the HR search filters. Instead of begging for a resume review, I would offer my efforts for free in my off time from my regular professional job as an improvised "professional" internship. Imagine being able to drive a car for several months and pay nothing unless you decide you want it in the future? Its a mutually beneficial situation in which I get exposure to the great minds and great work of MS and in turn I produce superior work output at no cost.
I realize there is a difference legally and financially of employing college students through an internship program and the internship opportunity I am suggesting, but I think a select few folks like me are passionate about the prospect of working for Microsoft in the future and are only too happy to offer our efforts and our time to achieve that first of many professional goals.
But to those college folks - good luck - I encourage you to take this oppportunity to work for the greatest corporation the World has ever known. Many people wish for an opportunity like this!
Just leave me a quick note if you would like to reach me. - Joe B.
I hope this is not too off topic (as it, like Joe's post, is not directly related to the college internships), but I applied to the high school internship program (found here: http://www.microsoft.com/college/highschool/default.mspx ). I was informed that I would hear back from them by May 31st. I have not heard back from them. While I don't expect to get the job at this point, I'm a little disheartened by the complete lack of response. What is even more troubling is that no contact information is given for the program, so I have no way to get in touch with those reviewing the internships. If you could give me some insights as to how I could get in touch with these people or get to know the status of my application, that would be awesome.
Thank you in advance,
Simeon Wyle