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Student Voice - Life as an Intern by Kevin Pfister

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https://www.microsoft.com/library/media/2057/uk/academia/images/thumbnails/kevin.jpgSo what is life actually like being a current intern at Microsoft? What does it feel like working at the world’s largest, greatest and best-known software company? Well I guess that for starters I should mention the chairs are exceedingly comfortable and the drinks are free.

 To start off with my name is Kevin Pfister and I work in the Developer and Platform Evangelism Group (DPE), DPE being just one of the many three letter acronym’s (TLA’s) that I have to come to remember. My role is that of an Academic Developer Evangelist (ADE), yet another acronym already. Microsoft as a whole is a company run on acronyms, it is the lifeblood here and I truly believe if everyone spent those few seconds longer actually saying the meanings of the acronyms the company would never be where it is today.

However, I digress, although I always get the feeling at the back of my mind that Microsoft is a rather strange company to work at being an intern. Mainly because you do not come to feel like an intern, we get to take part in important projects and services and there is not big sign over my head saying ‘Tea Boy’ of which I am very glad. Finally, everyone seems so happy to work here; it feels so different to every other place I have worked.

So how did I get to be an intern in the first place? Last year I was a Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) and actively tried to communicate technology and varying tools from Microsoft on my campus. Through the MSP programme, I found out about and applied to Pitch Your Passion (which involved spending a total of 16hrs on a train one day... fun). While there and at the final interview, I guess it seems I impressed them enough to give me a job and here I am.

Now I guess a few of the downsides of working here, well the first is not really a downside actually; I have no desk. Therefore, I can walk around and effectively sit where I want. Apart from that, I do not think there is any actually.

Technology is a real passion of mine and there is so much out there at the moment that I take a keen interest to and hope to experiment with throughout the year, some of which I’ll be actively writing about in the StudentZine. The areas of technology that at the moment I am interested in are the Pocket PC and Mobile section; really can’t wait to see Silverlight rolled out onto the platform and also XNA as I just love to make games in my spare time.

https://media.labs.live.com/photosynth/images/Photosynth-team_wht.jpgOne of the main things that shock me while I work here is the sheer amount of software Microsoft actually makes, it’s mindboggling! There is not really a software market that Microsoft is not competing in or thinking about, the product offerings are huge and what Microsoft is currently researching is just disturbingly awesome; if you have seen Photosynth or the World Wide Telescope I think you will understand, if not, find out!

In all its amazing being an intern here and I would encourage anyone to find out more on our careers site and hopefully apply if you feel you want to be challenged and amazed by what is on offer, because I have every day so far.

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