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 |
'Softie in question: Randall Boseman
Job title: Principal Test Manager - SDET - Office.com
Randall, what is hot in Office right now? Can we expect more of Microsoft Office online and now with a mobile piece to the business?
Services. Nowadays it’s all about software + services. People work and switch between different devices (a pc at both home and the office, tablets, phone, browser) multiple times a day. We’ve got to allow them to be able to remain productive and have their work follow them seamlessly. I’d say, yes, there’s plenty coming in terms of innovation, platform integration and experience improvement - mobile will definitely be a part of that.
You are a great technology and diversity ambassador with The National Society of Black Engineers and more. Can you share with us why you chose Microsoft, Office, and the SDET discipline?
When I was finishing up at school, if you wanted to do serious software, MS was the place. The number of products, customers and the potential… wow! I still think that is the case. Microsoft is an awesome company. There are brilliant people here with a lot of passion and focus.
Dear JobsBlog:
If I take a job where I get unrelated experience will it make me a less-desirable candidate?
-Tangent Torn
Read on to hear the answer from Microsoft Recruiter Kenji...
I recently participated in a job group panel and was asked for my interview tips. As I answered the question, I realized that I've come up with a whole bunch of additional suggestions since I last wrote about interviews for JobsBlog.
The first thing isn't a tip, so much as a philosophy of interviews: when faced with an interview, it is important to recognize that the process serves a dual purpose.
1) Interviews gives us a chance to find out whether or not you can contribute to the company, add value to your team and do the duties that are listed in the job description. This is the obvious purpose of an interview.
2) An interview is also a chance for YOU to interview the team to find out if it is a place where you want to work, a role that you want to take and a manager and team with whom you will "fit in."
It is imperative that you remember this second purpose. Interviewers will almost always open the floor to the interviewee at the end of the session to ask THEM questions. So be prepared!
Have you ever wondered what fields of study are hot right now in the world of technology? Or maybe you’re starting to think about declaring your major and you’re looking for some real world guidance?
It is worth thinking beyond a traditional Computer Science degree or even an Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) program. Microsoft is hiring people with unique backgrounds, some that are new with the inception of the Cloud, web services and the amazing scale at which the industry is operating (Exabyte anyone?).
The following is my list of the Top Three hottest academic areas for a future career in tech:
The #1 question I am asked by young people looking to work in the games and entertainment industry: “How do I break in?”
I’ll give you a hint…it’s not by promising to clean our toilets or bragging about how much time you spend pwning newbs on Halo.
Breaking in takes hard work and commitment. If you are a 17-year-old and reading this, I hope that you are submitting your college applications. Because, the best way to start on your path is to graduate with a 4-year degree. Yes, yes…I realize that there are stories of people who didn’t go to college but have had successful careers and made a bazillion dollars. That’s all fine and dandy and very true. But, I consider them the exceptions. Often, they are ridiculously brilliant OR they have put in a tremendous amount of effort to accomplish their goals. Effort that others put into college. So…if you have the means to go to college, do it!
During a recent work trip to Washington, DC, I found myself admiring the beauty of the US Capitol Building: the paintings on the ceiling, the frieze around the dome and more. It is an impressive intersection of engineering, history and art.
I wondered aloud if – with all of the cuts to arts education – future generations would have the context to fully appreciate and understand such a monument.
A gentleman on my tour replied curtly, “Arts no longer matter. There are more critical things to teach in schools.”
Unfortunately, this assumption is all too common. People believe that our businesses and economy can thrive solely on engineering and hard sciences.
As a recruiter for Microsoft, I must disagree – strongly. For starters, the arts teach creative problem-solving, teamwork and the ability to view things from different perspectives. These are key skills for success in a diverse workplace like Microsoft.
Moreover, Microsoft is so much more than just a technology company with engineering jobs.
Dear JobsBlog:
Would you recommend I tailor my resume when applying for a job? Does this help or hinder my chances of getting the position?
-Resume Riled
As a Staffing Manager in the Windows/Windows Live Division, I have the opportunity to see broadly across what’s going on with the Windows Division. Additionally, I sometimes get a glimpse into how our efforts connect to other Microsoft business units around the world, which is great, especially if you’re the kind of person who took apart a Rubic’s Cube just to see how it works. So, I jump at any chance to get an even bigger or different perspective of Microsoft as a whole.
Yesterday, I walked over to the 2010 Microsoft Product Fair which was held at the Soccer Field on the Redmond Campus. Yep, there’s a soccer field right in the middle of campus. The Seattle Sounders have come out a few times and practiced here; last year Nate Jaqua signed a poster for my son and mentioned that he really liked the field – I guess That’ll Do. Anyway, back to the Fair:
It’s a bunch of tents, big tents, with folks from different businesses and teams showing off the newest developments in their products or services, many I recognized and a few that I only knew on a superficial level.
Resume review & advice. Part II of II. (read Part I)
Resume review actually consists of several different “layers” of consideration.
There are multiple factors that I consider simultaneously and all need to be accounted for before I make the decision to contact a candidate for a phone interview. What I’m looking for is a resume that “pops out" at me on multiple layers.
The first thing that I look for when reviewing a resume, are the basics: does this candidate meet the minimum requirements for the position? Keep in mind, for many positions there are two sets of requirements – the bare minimum required – and the bonus qualifications that I’m ideally hoping to find. In this layer, I’m only looking for the former – but I’m militant in my resolve. If I need a year of experience, and you have six months – sorry, I just clicked “NEXT”.
Resume review & advice. Part I of II. (Read Part II)
I’ve considered writing about resume advice since I started contributing to JobsBlog. However, I’ve put it off and even considered not writing about it at all because the subject matter can be VERY controversial.
I’m not going to make you the empty promise that following my advice will *really* help you land that next job or get your resume noticed in the sea of resumes. Resume writing is more art than science and any advice charading as the singular truth can lead you down the wrong path.
What I will share with you is, for better or worse, the process I use when reviewing resumes – and I’m going to give you the honest not-so-sugar-coated-truth about what goes through my mind when I click “NEXT.
This is an unvarnished account. Reader beware:
All recruiters have different theories on how much to “prepare” their candidates the morning of the interview. There’s only one tip I like to give candidates when they come in, and it’s really more common sense than inside information: Question us.
As Kenji pointed out, most of those pesky Microsoft logic questions have been retired. That being said, it’s important to realize every candidate will absolutely get questions to which they don't know the answer. This is intentional and speaks to one of the constant challenges Microsoft employees face: dealing with ambiguity. On a daily basis as an employee, you’ll be put in spots where you don’t know the answer (or maybe there isn’t even a right answer).
Hi, I'm Marie Watkins, a new JobsBlogger, and I'm so excited to be part of this!
Ever heard of DigiGirlz?
DigiGirlz offers technology programs to get high school girls hands-on with technology, to connect them with Microsoft employees and to help dispel stereotypes about working in the high-tech industry. I recently worked with the DigiGirlz team in Southern California when they held events in San Diego and in Orange County.
At DigiGirlz, I had the opportunity to talk 1-on-1 with many of the teens and I found that there was a common tension permeating the conversations. One girl expressed this eloquently when she told me about the balance she is trying to find between her mom (the artist) and her dad (the computer scientist). Both parents are trying to get her to go into their disciplines. The teen is artsy, but loves technology, and is trying to live up to both of her parents' expectations. She also called it an "anxiety" and, after hearing from her and the others I spoke with, it seemed like many of the girls were struggling with the same art vs. science conflict when considering what they want to do for a career. Their anxiety was rooted in the fear they wouldn't have a "good job" (high pay, high prestige) if they follow their passion.
I’m a games guy. I LOVE games. I speak gamer. I say “w00t” and talk about “pwning noobs”. I frequently use acronyms like FPS, RTS, and MMORPG. My gamerscore is pushing 30,000. Not too shabby for a married dad who works full time.
This is only one of the reasons why I am SO excited about the official announcement of Kinect for Xbox 360. The other reason? This is a project several years in the making. I - and the amazing team I work with - have been recruiting like crazy, seeking out and hiring some truly remarkable studs to make Kinect a reality.
Some of the engineering roles we have at Microsoft are best explained through the stories of the people who do the work day in and day out. Bing is one of the most exciting groups at Microsoft and has very strong, very dedicated Software Development Engineers in Test. This interview is to give insight into the role and to what it’s like to work on a web service at Microsoft. Check out our first Bing SDET interview here.
- Eugenia
'Softie in question: Venkat Narayanan Job title: Senior Test Manager - Bing
Describe the SDET role to our audience in 10 words or less.
Continuously find and report the release readiness of the product.
Venkat, I know you have been a part of Bing since it was known as Live Search. Why is Bing still your passion and why the SDET role?
I will address the SDET role first. I have been in the test role for 10 years, and wouldn’t do anything else. Program Management and Development have their own attraction, but for me test offers the best of all worlds. You can be extremely creative in how you test, and what test cases you come up with. You can write code as much as you want, and when you want. To me, testers usually have the best overall view of how a product behaves.
Following my last articles about interviewing at Microsoft (read:Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), many of you asked for some pointers about how to get noticed by a recruiter or how to get your foot in the door at Microsoft. I didn’t respond with a post on the topics because I had already done an interview with The Seattle Times back in April and knew there would be a story was coming out.
Take a look through the article "Online presence helps companies such as Amazon, Expedia and Microsoft notice you" and gain some insight from myself and other recruiters in the industry as well.
I’ll look forward to hearing your specific questions after you read the article.
Some of the engineering roles we have at Microsoft are best explained through the stories of the people who do the work day in and day out. Bing is one of the most exciting groups at Microsoft and has very strong, very dedicated Software Development Engineers in Test. This interview is to give insight into the role and to what it’s like to work on a web service at Microsoft. Check out our second Bing interview here. - Eugenia
'Softie in question: Brad Sarsfield Job title: Senior Test Lead - Bing
Describe the SDET role to our audience in 10 words or less.
Technical freedom through code and experiments making architecture unapologetically excellent!
Brad, I know that you have worked and had success in other business groups within MSFT and that you chose to move to Bing within the last six months. Why Bing? Why an SDET role?
The SDET role is a no-brainer for me. Technical creative freedom is something all engineers enjoy, and is a luxury that the SDET role affords.
My code is not bound to operate within the confines of the sometimes strict requirements and dependencies that is often necessary when you contribute directly to product code. There are many times I’ve been able to think of an idea in the morning; and have it implemented and checked in by the end of the day. That is the freedom that I love.
For the third consecutive year, Microsoft was voted as Number One on the Top 100 List of Europe’s Best Workplaces. This year, 1,300 European companies participated in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s annual Trust Index© Survey, the largest annual workplace survey in the world. The companies taking part in the study represented 1,619,076 employees.
Microsoft was recognized for great, consistent results in Austria (#3 and Best Workplace for females), Belgium (#2 and Best Inspirational Leadership), Denmark (#8 and Best IT Workplace), Finland (#4 and Best Recruiting Practice), France (#1), Germany (#3), Ireland (#1), Italy (#1), Netherlands (#1), Norway (#2), Portugal (#1), Spain (#2), Sweden (#3), Switzerland (#5) and the UK.
Shopping is honestly one of my favorite topics. I’m shocked as I type these words because I never thought I would be able to write about shopping at work - and here I am, doing just that.
Actually, I’m not just shocked, I'm thrilled... thrilled that I work for Bing and that we are creating real solutions that help me stay connected with my friends and family while living everyday life.
Shopping has always been a social event from buying accessories for prom to finding the best bang for your buck with all of the graduation cash you have on hand. You want quality, the best price and the opinion of your friends and family. Bing has now made online shopping way cooler. You can share an item you see on Bing Shopping with your friends on Facebook and your followers on Twitter and get feedback/opinions instantly.
What makes a workplace great? What makes a product or service world class and life changing?
The answer: people.
A great workplace provides the opportunity to learn. As much as you will learn here at Microsoft on the technical front, you will also learn from the people you interact with - customers, coworkers, managers, that guy with the Powerset Pigeon t-shirt on. What you learn will help shape the person you are and the product/services you work on – or at least challenge you to think in a way you never thought you would.
With all of this focus on internet social media – it’s easy to lose sight of those tried and true methods of decades past.
In recent years, it seems like everywhere you look the term “Social Networking” is staring you right in the face. Stories abound from recruiters and jobseekers alike telling of how their latest social media experience lead to that last “great” hire. But what about back in the day of the dinosaur: before Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn dominated the marketplace? How did people network for jobs before social media? Did people really have to *gasp* meet face-to-face??? It seems like a foreign concept – yet recently, I’ve discovered that face-to-face networking events are making a bit of a comeback. And you know what else? I think they actually work better.
After a suggestion from one of my out-of-work friends, I decided to try out a networking event known as the Seattle Job Social, which is held monthly at Twist Lounge in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood (if you’re interested in relocating – Belltown has great nightlife, just FYI). While I’d been to my share of job fairs, this was my first social networking event, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.