Tips, tips and more tips. That's what JobsBlog is all about. We've been blogging since 2004, and our Job Hunting, Resume Building, Interviewing, and Working @ MSFT pages cut to the chase with our latest and greatest tips to help you become a future Microsoftie.
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| Job Hunting | Resume Building | Interviewing | Working @ MSFT |
Read Part One: How to prepare and what to expect here.
Read Part Two: The anatomy of the big day here.
Based on some of the comments we’ve seen, as well as your prior questions to the JobsBloggers, I suspect this may be one of the more popular segments in the three part series. I’ve tried to think of the various things I bring up when preparing candidates for the interview at Microsoft. If there are other things you’re curious about, please ask in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Nerves
Interviewing can be nerve wracking. I’ll share with you some insight I received on being nervous from a facilitation training program I’ve taken. “You’ll either be nervous, or you won’t.” To expand on that, if you’re nervous during an interview, that’s ok! It’s expected even. I find that beating myself up for being nervous, or trying not to be nervous, makes it worse. If you notice you’re nervous… great… notice it and move on. You can answer questions, and be nervous at the same time. If you start to worry about being nervous, instead of focusing on what the interviewer is asking, things could go downhill. So remember… you’ll either be nervous, or you won’t.
Read Part One: How to prepare and what to expect here.
Read Part Three: Question and answer game plan here.
Now that you’re prepped and rested, you’re ready for the big day!
First thing’s first
Not to sound like your mother, but – even if you’re not a breakfast person (like me) – make sure to eat something before you start your day. You will likely have a chance to refuel at a lunch interview, but it’s important to be at your best during the morning sessions. Being hungry and anxious for lunchtime can distract you from your interviews and affect your performance.
For all you coffee drinkers (myself included), be mindful about how much caffeine you have. I find that if I need to do a presentation or something similar, the more coffee I have – the more anxious I get, and it impacts my confidence level.
Try a new approach to finding out more about a company and their open positions with... online career events. Regardless of if the event is with Microsoft, other companies or hosted by a third-party recruiting company, online career events are a great way to network and find out more about open opportunities.
If you are in the job market, it is worth checking out these events since a company will likely host or participate only if they have a larger number of openings within a team or across their company. Online events are still limited in frequency since employers are trying to see if the events a good way to reach talent – but they are definitely gaining in popularity.
Read Part Two: The anatomy of the big day here.
Read Part Three: Question and answer game plan here.
No matter if you are just out of college or an experienced professional, your upcoming interview at Microsoft is bound to conjure all sorts of emotions. Most candidates are excited, nervous, anxious, ecstatic or some combination of all of the above.
Regardless of what you might be feeling, this three-part article is intended to help you prepare for your interview. It will give you a sense of what to expect on the day of the interview, as well as some hints and tips to help you be successful.
Part 1: Preparation and the day before your interview...
Thanks to the thousands/millions/billions of you who voted, Barbie’s next career is… drumroll please… a computer engineer!
So many engineers went viral with the campaign that she was the clear first choice in the popular vote - and will be on the shelves by Winter 2010. Computer Engineer Barbie comes equipped with sassy pink glasses, a binary code-patterned tee shirt and, or course, a laptop.
Barbie, you’d better be running Windows 7 on that...
Dear Jobsblog:
When and how is it appropriate to ask about salary, benefits and vacation time? I don’t want to seem like I’m just looking for money and perks, but, at the same time, this information is important to consider. How should I approach this? Whom should I ask these questions?
-All About The Benjamins (just kidding)
Dear Mr. (or Ms.) Benjamins:
Compensation (salary, benefits, etc.) is an important aspect of any job search. As a recruiter, it’s easy to forget how nerve-wracking this question can be for the candidate. After all, I answer it almost every day.
Questions relating to compensation are best dealt with early in the process and need to be treated with tact and care. By no means are they something that should be put off until the end or skipped over lightly. Candidates should approach compensation questions in terms of Who, When and How.
Hey Jobsblog readers!
These past few months have been all about change and new experiences for me. While I continue to work very closely with the Windows Live team, I’ve also expanded to encompass parts of Operations & Windows Engineering. It’s fun to see how other teams operate and learn about all of their exciting products and features. I really do love technology and that passion is one of the main reasons why I work at Microsoft.
On that note, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Now, with a few weeks between me and the event, I've had the opportunity to reflect on the CES and the state of technology:
Microsoft´s Technical Recognition Awards (an internal awards program) winners were just announced. Bharat Shah, head of the Business Productivity On-line Suite Group and the General Manager for whom I recruit, was honored among the 2010 Outstanding Technical Achievement Award winners.
CONGRATS, BHARAT.
The annual Technical Recognition Awards program is an opportunity to recognize and acknowledge work that has impacted not only Microsoft, but the software industry and the entire world. Awards are determined by nomination and votes of the Microsoft senior technical community.
There was a great bit in the original Clerks film where Dante and Randal discuss if one’s stated function always ties to what they actually do… (As pointed out in the past by Kenji!). Anyone who’s been around the technology industry knows that the meaning of a job title differs greatly from company to company. There’s a famous blog by Steven Sinofsy that dissects the difference between the PM role at Microsoft vs. anywhere else, so no need to revisit that here.
I did want to call out though that when you get on the phone with a recruiter, they will pay less attention to the title you held at company X and more attention to the responsibilities you performed in that role. I bring this up because there’s been a few times where I’ve seen something interesting on a resume that made me think about them for a title different than what they are working as now.
This posting details a candidate´s experience interviewing with Microsoft. Our guest poster, Joe, has further recorded his insights at his blog My Technical Interview Experience, where he offers advice on how to be successful in the programming technical interview/recruiting process. Take it away, Joe...
Much has been made of how generous Microsoft is to its employees and how it´s consistently ranked as one of the best companies to work for. What a lot of people don’t know is how well Microsoft treats its interview candidates. During my programming job search, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interview with many companies. Below, I’ve listed some ways that Microsoft stood out from the rest with its generosity:
Information Sessions
Microsoft information sessions are very well thought out and usually feature 2-3 employees on hand to sell the company and answer questions. Free food is served and at the end of the presentation, expensive prizes like Zunes and Xboxes are raffled off to the audience.
Hello JobsBlog readers! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season filled with good health, family and friends.
Speaking of holiday seasons, there may be another hot toy out there in 2010... so get ready. The Mattel company is currently holding a contest to determine Barbie’s next occupation and computer engineering is one of the options!
It’s no secret that there are a lot of people out of work these days. What you may not have known is that the national unemployment rate has a direct effect on everyone looking for a job.
Companies are inundated with resumes, many from people who aren’t necessarily qualified for—or even interested in—the position for which they’re applying. This has been not only my personal experience, but I’ve also heard similar reports from many of my peers regarding the sheer volume of resumes landing in our inboxes.
So how do you highlight the right skills on your resume to stand out, especially given the current quantity of resumes recruiters are sifting through?
This post is courtesy of Bing Jobs Blog:
I’m a big Top Chef fan and I love to cook, but I don’t really consider myself a “Foodie.” There are too many concepts I'm totally ignorant of that are old news to most Foodies. For instance, the whole concept of deconstructed cooking was foreign to me until started watching the show.
Given the large number of ingredients Microsoft uses to create our online services, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the main groups that combine to deliver Bing, courtesy of our OSD Career Site:
Dear JobsBlog: I have a computer engineering degree and several awards, distinctions, and honors. However, I did not attend a bigger college on the east/west coast. How do I get a Microsoft recruiter to look at my resume?
-Under the Radar
I’ve asked Alicia, a fellow recruiter from our U.S. University Team, to help answer your question.
-Janelle
Dear Under the Radar: Microsoft has always made it their business to hire the best and brightest students, regardless of what university they attended. We know that students choose universities based on many factors like location, cost, size, urbanization, program standings and, of course, reputation. That means that incredibly smart people are everywhere, not just at the Ivies.
Happy birthday to our Silicon Valley campus who turned 10 last week. Our largest U.S. campus outside of Redmond, Microsoft Silicon Valley (MSV) is now home to 1300 employees (with 2000 total in the Bay Area) working on products like Mediaroom, Windows Live, Bing, Xbox, Microsoft for Mac, PowerPoint and more. You can find out more about the culture and jobs (yes, we are hiring) at Microsoft Careers: Silicon Valley.
A couple years ago, Jenna wrote about her own experience with Microsoft’s Mobile Medicine benefit. Now, a recent Business Week article tells you a little more about the details—and economics—of our plan: The Return of the House Call.
A while back, the Channel 9 team revealed what it’s really like to work at Microsoft. Ok, well, maybe not really—but we sure did enjoy it. Now Tina and the gang are back again with new insight:
Today at PDC (Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in LA), our Live Labs team unveiled Pivot, an experimental application that makes it easier (and fun) for people to interact with a massive amount of data in new ways. Right now, Pivot is in a limited technical preview for PDC attendees but check out the video to see this technology in action.
Hi everyone - It's been a while since I've given you an update about our international recruiting efforts so I wanted to let you know the latest.
For candidates interested in positions outside of the US, we have offices, development centers, product groups, and innovation centers around the world working on exciting projects. This includes internships for university students and entry level sales, marketing, and development roles for recent graduates, all the way up to senior level opportunities in many different roles.
Right now, I’m recruiting for or will be recruiting very soon for Development Managers, Test Managers, Developers, Developers in Test, and Program Manager positions across Europe in locations such as Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Dublin, and Paris. My counterparts on the International Recruiting team are also looking for top talent from around the world.
The Washington Post's recent article Tiny Typos Can Add Up To a Big X On Your Résumé details a few suggestions on how to avoid typos on your resume.
