I have spent a total of almost 9 years working for prominent IT companies and I'm in the middle of my 3 rd week at Microsoft. What makes Microsoft unique? What is unique to Recruiting at Microsoft? I could fill countless pages of information on this topic, but let me try to summarize on a few things stand out to me. It may sound like lip service, but the most amazing thing about Microsoft is the people. I feel that I have been fortunate enough to work around a lot of smart people in my career, but the people at Microsoft are at another level. Most importantly they are nice. I am from Texas and I was surprised to find that that the Softies exceeded my expectations of friendliness. Perhaps it's...
One of our blog readers asked how he can prep for his upcoming Microsoft interview. There is a ton of information online and I have provided some of those links below, but here are some tips I give my candidates (thanks to some of my fellow recruiters who have helped articulate the tips so well): Brush up on your programming skills, including algorithms and data structures. Yes, we may ask you about computer science principles from college. You can expect that you’ll be asked to write code on a white board during your interview. Be sure to test it before you say you’re done! Beyond practical questions, we want to learn more about how you think. As you’re coding, think out loud...
I just have to share my new online obsession. I had a baby 5 months ago so it's no longer convenient to use my laptop at all times like it used to be. So last Wednesday night I was sitting on the couch with the baby on my lap, the iPad had just been launched and I was watching the State of the Union on TV. I was curious to see what the general reaction to both was and didn't really feel like browsing multiple sites through my phone. I came across BingTweets and now I'm hooked. I have people I follow on twitter, Jimmy Fallon makes me laugh, Rachel Maddow enlightens me, but BingTweets makes it super easy to read tweets by subject instead. It searches and categorizes tweets so that you can quickly...
What is up with candidates not self-identifying when applying for jobs? Do you think employers will not find out when they interview you? ;-) At some point they will find out before you are hired. As someone who is black, if I am applying to a company who is not seeking blacks (and, yes, they are out there ) then I might as well save us both time by including this information on my application. Instead of “applying blind” why not target companies who are promoting diversity…have won awards for diversity…and are looking for diverse people? Microsoft's list of diversity awards includes: · Working Mother's list of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers ·...
Here are some reminders about links on your resume to the web and links on the web that lead to your resume. Careful What You Put Online. If you have a online account, people you won't want to be reading your profile may be able to access it, even if you think nobody will reads it. Make your accounts private, so only your friends can access them. Be extra careful, and don't post anything that you don't want a prospective employer (or your grandmother) reading it. All online accounts have privacy settings. Consider creating a personal web site, if you're unemployed , including your resume, samples (if you are a coder), your portfolio, and certifications. Only recommend the site to professional...
For those of you who may have missed it, Bing has continued to make steady increases to our US search share numbers. The full article is here . December numbers we up to 10.7 overall share. This caps a remarkable six months since the launch of Bing, (we were somewhere below 7 percent share when we launched in June). The most troubling trend here is that our share is increasing at the expense of Yahoo, rather than the other guys, but I think it’ll get much more interesting to track the share increase numbers once our previously mentioned Search deal goes through. Another key element to getting people to switch is getting better at helping them find what they are looking for. It’s good...
I was invited to add a guest blog post this week because of an all too common situation I was just in. I had time scheduled with a candidate to discuss his background and to see if one of the open roles I recruit for might be a good fit. (Shameless plug – Product Managers, Product Planners & Marketers J ) I was looking forward to the conversation until the night before when, to my horror, he sent me his… Executive Bio. Before even opening the mail I knew this person would not be the right fit. Who is perpetuating the myth that you need a 5 paragraph bio or a full page cover letter?! I appreciate the effort that candidates go through to show their interest and outline their experiences...
I watched President Obama’s State of the Union address last night. Regardless of your political affiliations, I think it is always interesting. A couple of things that struck me tonight were his remarks about innovation and diversity. He spoke about the need for greater innovation and a larger emphasis on science. While he talked about in terms of America being a leader, I instead think about the fact that every company and country needs to push for innovation in science and I am proud to be at a company that does so to benefit people around the world. He also said, “We find unity in our incredible diversity.” I feel that way about Microsoft. One of our strongest advantages...
Some of the benefits of a big company like Microsoft is our stable foundation and our vast resources. But did you know we can leverage those benefits and still feel like a start-up? I have said it before and our employees have confirmed it, Microsoft Search has the passion and excitement of a start-up. We are highly innovative and willing to take risks. An article that just appeared in the San Jose Mercury gives a great peek at one dimension of our culture . One might argue that I shouldn’t promote stories that talk about putting ideas on a sheet of paper instead of in a polished PowerPoint deck, or having a plan come together at the last minute, but I would disagree. Innovation can’t...
Some job seekers don't fully understand a recruiter's role. They view recruiters as getting in the middle of their job search, preventing direct contact with the hiring manage(s) for available positions. Well this is actually true and these job seekers are going to have a long and frustrating search for their next job, because the vast majority of companies now use recruiters almost exclusively to facilitate the hiring process. These are 4 roles that recruiters play: · Corporate Representative · Gatekeeper · Educator · Negotiator Corporate Representative Whether you like it or not, the recruiter is the company's representative to the talents available. We are the ...
I just got out of a meeting with a Hiring Manager and I really feel energized. The hiring manager, we’ll call him “B” just joined Bing about one month ago from another group within Microsoft. Having made the move into the online/web services world, the exposure he has to planning and design is awesome and the energy he gets from the discussions on making the huge scale that Bing deals with ‘work’ is mind boggling and just very exciting to a true engineer. Just listening to him talk about how groundbreaking some of the ideas being discussed and the scale in which they are working really made me take a step back and realize a) not everyone gets to work with the scale...
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 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 dissecting 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...
The newly announced winner of the Oxford American Dictionary word of 2009 is “unfriend.” I've been thinking about how many of us like to think that we’re highly organized and efficient. When it comes to our social networks there is a lot we can do to make our lives easier, faster, more organized, and more efficient. I’ve adopted some radical measures to streamline and improve my use of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and my blogs. 1 – Cut the Number of People You Follow/Friend The temptation when you first start using social networking is to embark on a “following rampage.” You add the sites you read, the bloggers you respect, friends, family, business...
I have a very tech savvy pre-teen who wants the latest toys and gadgets, as long as they are from Microsoft. This past Christmas she really wanted an audio dock for her Zune HD (which she got for her birthday!) but there was no one in San Diego that had it and the Microsoft Company Store was sold out. One evening I started to set her expectations that she might not get the gift she really wanted. Rather than being disappointed, she said she'd try to find it online. I expected her to go to Amazon but she surprised me by going directly to Bing. She did a search for Zune accessories and began to read product reviews. I went to bed. The next morning I found an email from her in my inbox. It contained...
Okay, I will admit it is a little typical for a "black girl" to blog about diversity though Microsoft recently hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Inclusion event, so the timing is right. From the '60s to today, the human race is definitely in a place to celebrate just how far things have come, though there is still more work to do. I just watched the "I Have a Dream Speech" in the video section of Bing . (In order to view it, search on the title of his speech on the video page…There are a plethora of choices of available. I found the full speech on the first page of my results.) Dr. King was and still is inspiring. In looking around the room at Microsoft's The Day of Inclusion event...
