How I came to Microsoft
I have asked Microsoft bloggers to tell the story of how they came to work at Microsoft, what attracted them to the company and what was the series of events that led them here. Here is my story.
In 1996, I was a physics major about to graduate. It was in a time when many physics majors were saying “if I had to do it over I would have studied EE”. It was a time when companies were only beginning to figure out how to make money on the internet. I had been a Basic programmer as a child and I took CS classes for fun at my university, but for me, physics was more interesting. I liked understanding why things behaved as they do in nature.
About that time, I came back into contact with a friend of mine from way back in elementary school days who was now interning at Microsoft. She loved it. Every day, I would get e-mails from her talking about the cool technology she was working on, the smart people she worked with, the free cokes, all kinds of positive things. It was her suggestion that I might be qualified for a tester position and that I should apply. Now, in those days I was like many semi-technical dorks in having some disdain for Microsoft. It was only natural to support the little guy (Apple) and oppose the evil corporate machine. That was the good fight. I remember writing e-mails to my friend asking - how is life in the empire and all that. My friend to her credit (and ultimately my benefit) didn’t just drop the interviewing thing. She kept mentioning it and eventually I warmed up to the idea, no doubt because I would soon be looking for a job with only a physics degree.
So I agreed. My friend sent my name to the recruiting department and soon they contacted me. I sent them my resume and they called to give me a phone interview. That went well and they offered to fly me out to Seattle for a round of interviews with the Project group. When I arrived, I found out that the product I would interview on was Team Manager, a new product (we would eventually ship only one version - Team Manager 97). I thought that was great as I didn’t know anything about Project or Team Manager. My first interview of the day was with a test lead who asked me how long I envisioned myself working for MS if I were hired, and I stupidly replied two years because I want to go to grad school. Great move. My interview questions were made up of some of the brain teaser type that you hear horror stories about and some coding type questions. To one coding question, I asked if I could pseudo-code it to just show the logic. The interviewer response was “pseudo-code it in C” as C was on my resume. Eventually, the end of the day came and I was tired. I had one last interview with the test manager. Of course, I didn’t know that he would be the guy that would be making final Hire / No Hire decision. He asked me a couple questions and then we talked a bit about Microsoft and the industry. I told him I thought IE (version 2) sucked compared with Netscape. Another fine move on my part.
At the end of the day, I didn’t know if I’d get an offer or not. I tried my best. I felt like I was honest in my responses, but that they probably didn’t like what I had to say. I knew one thing though. I was sold on the place. I would love working there if they gave me a chance. I had dinner with my friend and then went back to my hotel for much needed sleep. The next day I flew home to Colorado. When I got there my mom said someone from recruiting had already called. I called them back and they said I’d passed the interviews and asked if I would like to come work for them. I said yes and seven years later I am still here and thinking that grad school just has to wait because this is too much fun.
Comments
Anonymous
July 06, 2003
How did that "two years because I want to go to grad school" help? Shouldn't a company usually prefer someone who yearns to work long-term? :) curiousAnonymous
July 06, 2003
Heh, by "Great Move", I meant "Not a Great Move". Sorry, sarcasm doesn't translate well to the written media. At least, it doesn't for me. Clearly, most companies wouldn't like to hear an applicant say they are only interested in staying for a couple years.Anonymous
July 06, 2003
My bad. Should've done better than skimming through in parts and posting a silly comment. :-pAnonymous
July 06, 2003
Oh man.I'm happy for you. It's my dream to come work there, but it seems like I'm just too far (Israel). Wish I I had a friend in there... :)Anonymous
July 07, 2003
I interned at Microsoft and enjoyed it immensely, but could not have worked in the rainy weather - one summer was enough! After graduating I was offered a position with the Hotmail group in the Bay Area, but decided to forge it on my own instead.
Neat story on how you ended up there. What do you do work-related there now?Anonymous
July 07, 2003
Eventually, I transitioned to development from test. I work on the Outlook Web Access team these days.Anonymous
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