Bing The Bing UX Design team travels across the pond to attend Interaction 12 by Cammy Vasquez</h1> <article> <h1>Bing The Bing UX Design team travels across the pond to attend Interaction 12 by Cammy Vasquez</h1> <p>2012-01-31T21:30:00Z</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The Bing UX Design team and their staffing partners are heading to Dublin, Ireland this week. We’re not flying over the Atlantic just for a good pint of Guinness and some Irish cheer. Bing is attending the IxDA “Interaction 12” conference. We will be showcasing some of our best products and hope to demonstrate our commitment to producing cutting edge design and the growth of the UX community.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;">Everyone attends a conference for their own professional reasons. As a Staffing professional, I believe that I benefit from attending industry conferences, such as Interaction 12, because I am able to increase my business acumen and build connections with thought leaders and some of the industry’s brightest and best talent. The benefits from networking in a conference environment are immense. Meeting new people will only provide significant connection points to information related to innovations, new products, and key people to connect with. In my experience, networking can also result in finding a career opportunity of a lifetime. <br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;">We invite you to stop by and to chat with the Microsoft UX employees at Interaction 12 to learn more about all the User Experience & Researcher opportunities available. Microsoft will have representatives from various businesses, such as Bing, Bing Mobile, Office, Windows Phone and more. Please be sure to ask one of us how you can join our Talent Network – a great way to stay connected to Microsoft and UX Designer job opportunities. It takes less than 5 minutes to sign up: </span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/xln0lm"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;">http://bit.ly/xln0lm</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></span></span></span></p> </span></span></span></span></span></p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;">Network, connect, make ties---It will inevitably pay off!</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cheers from Dublin!</span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: small;">-- Cammy</span></span></span></span></p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Land An Interview For Your Dream Job By Your Mobile Resume. – By Kay Kelison</h1> <p>2012-01-20T20:06:00Z</p> <p></p> <p>With today's mobile space, employers are creating mobile websites to allow professionals to be notified when the right job comes along. Imagine you have signed up to receive a notification about an opportunity that you'd like to apply for, but you don't have access to your resume. Or you might be one of those who will wait to get home to your computer to send it. Or maybe you might even forget to apply or be too late because of the type a day you are having. However, if you had a mobile app that could create a mobile resume that could be submitted via mobile no matter where you are, this would give you another edge over others in your job search. Below I have given some instructions on how to create a resume, and some of the apps with iPhone, Android, and Windows.</p> <p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Suggested Steps</span></b></p> <ul> <li>Choose a mobile app that allows you to create a resume. These mobile applications should allow you to access your resume from your mobile device. It's important that the app should allow you to create and share your resume with potential employers.</li> <li>Create an account through the apps websites. These apps allow you to upload or create your resume online or mobile. You can then use resume as a doc to upload to an employer's website. You can also create a Word doc on your computer, save it in a PDF file, download a PDF reader which will allow you to open your resume in a PDF, and send it via email, etc. Pretty cool.</li> <li>Be sure to enter your relevant information into a mobile application of your choice from your mobile device. A popular application is Resume Bear (<a href="http://resumebear.com/">resumebear.com</a>) for both iPhone and Android mobile devices. This free application allows you to send your resume to potential employers from your phone and see who has been reading your resume. It's my favorite on usability, simplicity and the fact you can see who has been reading your resume....pretty sweet!</li> <li>Most importantly: keep your resume updated with current information. Remember that potential employers are looking at and asking for your resume, whether it is on a website or in your mobile application.</li> </ul> <p><b>Recommended Apps</b>: </p> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Pocket Resume - $2.99 - iPhone/Android</b></p> </td> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Resume App Pro - Free - Android</b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Resume App - $2.99 - iPhone</b></p> </td> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>My Resume - Free - Windows</b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>PDF Reader - Free - iPhone </b></p> </td> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Your Resume - $0.99 - Windows</b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Resume Bear - Free - iPhone</b></p> </td> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Resume - Free - Windows</b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Winning Resume - Free - Android</b></p> </td> <td width="319" valign="top"> <p><b>Every Day Resume - Free - Windows</b></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><br />I am also a technical recruiter working for OSD/Bing division and would encourage you to join our talent network to keep up with the latest Bing job opportunities, or apply for a specific job today. </p> <p>To join our community, click <a href="http://bit.ly/xHj4LK"><b>HERE</b></a> and look for the <b>orange</b> <b>box</b> in the upper right corner that says <span style="text-decoration: underline;">"<b>Join Our Talent Network</b>"</span> to opt in. It's one of the best places to connect with recruiters and get noticed!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing How to Network with Your Staffing Partner</h1> <p>2012-01-18T19:50:00Z</p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First thing you want to do is evaluate what you current work is now. Or, if you are unemployed, look at the jobs you have really loved during your career and focus on the reasons why you enjoyed them. This will help you determine what your next role will be. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Second partner up with the recruiters who specialize in this area. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are some tips to find these recruiting partners: </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1.) Search on LinkedIn by companies you may be interested in working for now or in the future. Each company has a team of recruiters who hire for full time employment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2.) Reach out and start building the partnership with a few recruiters who will be your eyes and ears for new roles and advocate for you! I often talk with someone and might not have the right fit for them at that time, but I encourage them to keep in touch with me.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3.) Follow your recruiter on Twitter, or other social media avenues. We often post new positions via Twitter or LinkedIn. The days of finding a job through the company career site are still valid, but having the connection through social media avenues will also keep you updated even if you are not actively looking. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To learn more about roles at <b>Microsoft</b> please reach out to me,<b> Mychelle Mason</b> on </span></span><a href="http://linkd.in/wr12Go"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">LinkedIn</span></span></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> and also join our </span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/AzrqE5"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Talent Community</span></span></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> for updates! </span></span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Meet Omar from Social Search at Microsoft Silicon Valley</h1> <p>2012-01-16T15:49:00Z</p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My name is Omar Alonso and I am a senior technical lead on Bing's social search team in </span></span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/wNU9RL"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mountain View, CA</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">. My interests are information retrieval, information access, human computation, crowdsourcing, and information visualization. I hold a PhD in computer science from the University of California at Davis. My team works on one of the coolest areas of the Internet today: how to leverage social data to help users find the most relevant information. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Social keeps evolving on a daily basis so an important part of our job is to mine the utility of social data and how it can benefit millions of users when they are searching on Bing. Between the requirements of "web search" and the amount of social data available to us, we have some pretty hard-core indexing and serving requirements, and a bulk of our research goes into determining the best ranking models to apply to the social data. Of course, not all of the features are behind-the-scenes - we have some prominent user-facing features as well.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What do I do exactly? I work on the relevance side of things trying to understand what users are looking for and how can we present the most relevant information we have available to users. More specifically, I analyze our query stream - millions of queries! -- to learn how users search and simulate improvements. I manage the experiments to collect labels that can be used later to train models for machine learning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Microsoft is a great place to work. There are plenty of problems and challenges, great resources, lots of opportunities to collaborate, and a top research lab called MSR which is like a faculty but much bigger. Microsoft is also very open about participating in conferences and publishing papers even for product groups. In my case, I am involved in the information retrieval community (SIGIR) so these events are a great place to showcase what we do and interact with students and academics. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One last item: we are </span></span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/A70Mjh"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">hiring</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">! The Bing Social Search team is the only place on the planet where you can work with Web, Facebook and Twitter data. Enough said.</span></span></span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing "Showing up" in your interview!</h1> <p>2012-01-05T15:07:00Z</p> <p> </p> <p>One of the perks of being a recruiter is meeting lots of new people, lots of new conversations and ideas sharing, it's fantastic! But the ONE thing that consistently comes up in my conversations with potential candidates before their onsite interview is "So what are they really looking for, what does a successful interview mean?" Well, there are many competencies that would make for a successful interview but in my opinion three really stand out and that is what I advise candidates on.</p> <p>First is <b>Technical Strength</b>. This is the skill that you will use every day to do your job and it is the first thing that is evaluated. It is the know-how and the understanding of your body of work; the better the quality, the more successful you are. For example, simple, clean, optimized code is desirable, so you don't have to use ALL your knowledge to writes pages of it to be successful. (Yes: you can probably tell, I am a technical recruiter. J)</p> <p>Second is <b>Problem Solving</b>. While this may sound cliché, you have to realize that companies do not get ahead if they aren't solving the right problems for their customers, providing the right solutions for their client. Be it retail, software, food, telecom, the list goes on. Now this is a tough one because it is hard to exhibit problem solving in the hour or so that you get during an interview with one interviewer. I agree that it takes an extended period of time working alongside to prove this ability but the good news is that there is a way you can exhibit this quality, it's called "Approach." The way you approach a given problem, situation or idea is the start of your problem solving, the more thoughtful and well laid out the structure, the better your chances of impressing the person across the table. Starting with data gathering is the first step, you may or may not have the entire information needed to solve the problem (the caveat is that this may be intentional or unintentional, and there may or may not be more information), but if you don't ask you will not get it. So don't hesitate to ask! Now the second step is analyzing the problem, most of us do it in our heads and like to just deliver the solution, remember this is all about approach so the interviewer wants to "see" that analysis process. Walk them through it, be vocal, weigh the possibilities out aloud and then settle on one solution that seems best to you and then only should you implement the solution. This way, you are exhibiting the ability to see the big picture, your knowledge base and the ability to make a decision. Sounds simple enough but believe me when it comes to actually carrying out this "operation" most people jump into delivering the solution right away. </p> <p>The third for me is <b>Passion</b>. And frankly many people roll their eyes when they hear the word "Passion," (maybe because it's been overused) the first reaction I get is "that's so HR." J True, true but look at organizations/products around you and notice that the more successful ones are the ones that have passionate people behind them. You might be passionate about the product/offering, the industry, the company or the technology, but the key is to exhibit that passion in your conversation. It's not a "fake it till you make it" thing. Either you have passion or you don't. If you are passionate about any part of the work that you do, would like to do, then definitely don't hold it back. Bring yourself to the table!</p> <p>Again, this is my individual opinion, based on my experience of many years and for you these are merely suggestions, perhaps filters that you can use in your next interview conversation. You may choose to use all, some or none of these but just remember your interview is your day to show up so be there with bells on! All the best! </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing What does sticking to your New Year’s Resolutions and working at Microsoft have in common?</h1> <p>2012-01-03T17:02:00Z</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p>Can you believe we are about to enter a new year? 2012 will be here before you know it. As each New Year approaches, millions of people around the globe make resolutions (or intentions) on things they want to accomplish. These resolutions can range anywhere from spending more time with family to having a more active lifestyle to perhaps finding a better job to further your career.</p> <p>Did you know that working at Microsoft can also help you stick to your New Year resolutions? Here are 5 common New Year's resolutions that Microsoft supports!</p> <p>Resolution #1: Spend more time with family. Every second we get to spend with family is an opportunity to create stronger bonds and lasting memories. At Microsoft, we strongly encourage a healthy work/life balance and putting family first is of the utmost importance. Check out the video link below to learn more about work-life balance within Microsoft's Online Services Division.</p> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft-careers.com/content/bing/career-videos/%23video_Person_7_1">Work-Life Balance at Microsoft</a> </p> <p>Resolution #2: Lose weight or adopt a more active lifestyle. At Microsoft, it is important for our employees to take care of his/her health and one of the ways we do that is by providing ways both on and off our Microsoft Campuses to do so. We have walking/jogging trails at the Redmond campus and also provide a free gym membership for those based in Redmond. For those not in Redmond, we allocate a certain amount of money to each employee so they can reimburse either a single or family gym membership.</p> <p>Resolution #3: Volunteer more to charitable organizations. At Microsoft, we believe that the passion and creativity of our employees emerge when they know their efforts make a difference and a large part of that comes through helping others. You can learn more about our give campaigns and volunteer programs by clicking here: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fcitizenship&h=PAQFmr7GJ">http://www.microsoft.com/citizenship</a> .</p> <p>Resolution #4: Save Money. Investing for your future and retirement is something that many of us strive to do each year. At Microsoft, we provide a 401(k) plan that includes a company match on contributions. We also provide flex spending options for childcare which can help you save some extra cash each year.</p> <p>Resolution #5: Find a better job. We value every single one of our employees at Microsoft and make it a priority to invest in his/her career development. There is an amazing range of opportunities for career advancement at Microsoft. We offer clear career path options, movement across professions and mentoring programs both within and outside of your own area of expertise that allow you to build a network to help find opportunities that can promote your development. <br /><br />To learn more about opportunities at Microsoft, check out <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/careers">www.microsoft.com/careers</a>. Happy New Year!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Meet Ross - the lead behind our Bing homepage</h1> <p>2011-12-12T22:13:00Z</p> <p></p> <p>I'm Ross Comer and I lead the team that develops the Bing homepage. Having run other parts of Bing such as News and Entertainment Search, it's very exciting to now be responsible for the homepage which is the best visual representation of the Bing brand. It is a key differentiator from our competitors who, despite efforts to do so, have been unable to duplicate (you might recall one such disastrous effort by a competitor which was quickly cancelled after it made the search box difficult to find).</p> <p> </p> <p>The challenges of the homepage are slightly different from the rest of Bing in that we need to balance adding features that help users get their tasks done faster while still preserving the homepages visual appeal. Recently we added videos to the homepage, carefully ensuring the main user task of searching is not impacted while still offering up the occasional delightful surprise, something that has been very well received. However we've also run many tests of other features which, while somewhat increase our click-through to searches, also detract from the beauty of the page and therefore won't be released.</p> <p> </p> <p>We have many cool new features coming to the homepage that I can't wait to ship. I think they achieve that balance while expanding on the excitement and usefulness of the homepage, helping people explore the web event better than they can today.</p> <p> </p> <p>Wanna job like mine? Check out <a href="http://bit.ly/BingHomePageTeam">http://bit.ly/BingHomePageTeam</a>. </p> <p> </p> <p><i>Ross Comer has had almost 20 years of experience at Microsoft. He started on the Excel 5 development team where he owned such features as AutoCorrect (teh -> the) and AutoComplete (type Banana, press B, and Excel completes the word Banana). Ross went on to the MSN Money team, rated the Best of the Web for its innovative functionality, where he lead various teams including development, operations, and program management. For the past four years Ross has been on the Bing development team, starting out with leading News Search, developing several other Bing verticals including most recently Entertainment, and can now be found running the Bing Engagement team consisting of the Bing <a href="http://www.bing.com/">Homepage</a>, Notifications, and <a href="http://www.bing.com/rewards">Rewards</a>.</i></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing What does Microsoft Advertising and the Seattle Girl Geek Dinner community have in common?</h1> <p>2011-12-09T17:04:00Z</p> <p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> <p></p> </span></p> <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Last Wednesday, Microsoft Advertising sponsored the 13<sup>th</sup> Seattle Girl Geek Dinner. For those of you that haven't heard of the Girl Geek Dinner community, it was started by a woman in London, who had a vision for geeky women across the globe to have informal community that facilitated learning, networking, and fun. </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/lizmorgan"><span style="font-size: medium;">Liz Morgan</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">, a Talent Strategist for the Online Services Division started the Seattle community back in 2008. This is Microsoft's 5<sup>th</sup> time sponsoring a dinner. Microsoft Advertising knocked it out of the park by finding a hip, festive venue in downtown Seattle, and provided a speaking panel that was honest, engaging and fun!</span></p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">We started the evening off by playing personal bingo. Upon arrival, everyone received a sheet of paper with a bingo grid. Each box had a statement printed inside of it, saying things like "been to 4 Hawaiian islands" or "coded a SQL database." Each geek girl was tasked with asking other attendees if they have done any of the statements. If yes, the box was signed off on by that person. The 1<sup>st</sup> geek girl that had found signatures for each box won a $50 gift card to the Microsoft Retail Store. It was great to see everyone networking and enjoying the quest for 1<sup>st</sup> place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p> <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Next, the speaking panel took the floor. Maria Alvarez, Chief of Staff for Microsoft Advertising, and our sponsor (thank you Maria!) stood in the crowd to support her team. Holly Knight, Principal Program Manager, and Kirti Khanna, Principal Program Manager lead for Microsoft Advertising were the speakers for the evening. Holly, who came from Apple, found her home at Microsoft in 1997. Kirti has been with Microsoft since 2000 as a contract developer and went full time in 2005. Prior to working for Microsoft, Kirti was with the Walt Disney Internet Group. Both women started off by discussing their background and some of the challenges of growing your career as a woman. The advice they gave was phenomenal. Establishing priorities, good mentors, and finding work that constantly challenged you were some of the suggestions they provided. There was also conversation about the resources Microsoft provides to their female employees. Some of the things that were mentioned by Holly and Kirti were Microsoft's robust mentorship program, a great training and development program, and the annual Women's Conference, offered to all women at Microsoft. The conference was described as a 3 day program, which provided a panel of inspiring speakers, developmental opportunities, and the chance to network with other women.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Towards the end of Holly and Kiriti's Q and A session, there was some interesting dialogue about women in engineering, and what the culture at Microsoft Advertising was like. Kirti commented that "<i>a standard misconception that people have about Microsoft is that we are a bunch of aggressive, type-A personalities who will not blink an eye to put you down. People also think Microsoft is slow and lacking innovation</i>." However, the culture at Microsoft Advertising is very much the opposite. As Kirti went on to say, "<i>I think our culture provides a fast but collaborative environment. People are generally aligned in making a difference in the marketplace. Once we have a clear charter and goal, everyone feels mobilized to work towards that collectively." </i></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Maria, Holly and Kirti each had a line of women who wanted to talk to them after the speaking session was finished. When talking to Holly about why sponsoring women's events are important, she replied "<i>Microsoft wants to present a good accurate face to the local community for who really works there. Local women can help encourage women to consider MS as a place to do great work, with really special people!"</i> </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Overall, the event was a success. It was a great way to celebrate the Girl Geek Community and success stories of women who have careers in the technology field. A big thank you to Microsoft Advertising for sponsoring. If you are interested in working with these amazing women, please visit: </span><a href="http://bit.ly/microsoftjobsadvertising"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://bit.ly/microsoftjobsadvertising</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Not a member of the Seattle Girl Geek community? Please join us! You find can us on Facebook: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/14877769863/"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/14877769863/</span></a></p> </p> <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, back to our initial question: What does Microsoft Advertising and the Seattle Girl Geek Dinner community have in common?</span></p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Answer: Smart women.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p> <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Happy Holidays!</span></p> </p> <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Eugenia and Liz</span></p> <p> <p> </p> </p> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Notes of a Multimedia Enthusiast</h1> <p>2011-12-06T19:47:00Z</p> <table sizset="1" sizcache="14" border="0" style="text-align: left;"> <tbody sizset="1" sizcache="14"> <tr sizset="1" sizcache="14"> <td sizset="1" sizcache="14"> <p sizset="0" sizcache="12">I'm Justin - skier, development lead, rock climber, multimedia enthusiast.</p> <p> </p> <p>I started out as an intern on the Search team with the monumental task to create a prototype for Video Search. It was a challenging project - working across the stack with web 2.0, index serving, multimedia processing and content discovery. Since then, I've been hooked!</p> <p> </p> <p>After graduating, I joined the Multimedia team full time in 2006 right out of college. It's been fun working in such an emerging and diverse area of search. We launched Bing.com in 2009 with Bing Images and Bing Videos. Soon after, in 2010 I became a development lead for the Bing Multimedia Experiences team.</p> <p> </p> <p>They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. That's really what makes the Bing Multimedia team unique. It's challenging, highly technical work with an artistic touch that brings color to a person's search results by answering their question in a rich, visual way.</p> </td> <td> <p> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p style="text-align: left;"></p> <p style="text-align: left;">And where else can you watch Family Guy on the job?!? We not only get to imagine the next generation image and video search experiences, but also have the tools, technology and resources to bring those ideas to life. Although it's challenging work I'm always excited to play with the end result. More than the product though, what I love most about this team is its people, teamwork and energy.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Want a job like mine? Click <a href="http://bit.ly/vEeeYF" title="here">here</a>.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Wei Chu talks Bing, machine learning and applied research</h1> <p>2011-12-05T16:29:17Z</p> <p></p> <p>My name is Wei Chu. I am an Applied Researcher on Bing's contextual relevance team. The mission of this team is to bring personalization in the user search experience. My commitment is to improve Bing search results by introducing significant signals relevant to personalized search relevance. I am doing applied research on learning from large-scale data. The most challenging step is to identify and formulate individual problems which could be solved by machine learning techniques. I joined Microsoft in May of 2011 thanks to one of my friends that works in Microsoft Research. He referred me to several teams within the Online Services Division. I was fascinated by the great opportunities at Microsoft and finally ended up with Bing's contextual relevance team to continue my passion on personalization. </p> <p>Before I joined Microsoft this May, I worked at the Center for Computational Learning Systems at Columbia University as an associate research scientist for two years. Then, I moved to the Audience Science group at Yahoo! Labs working on personalized content optimization for web-based interactive services. I received both of my degrees in control engineering from a college in Harbin, China, and obtained a Ph.D. degree from the National University of Singapore. I did three-years post-doc training on statistical machine learning at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, at University College London.</p> <p>Microsoft is an amazing place to work, especially for those who are experts in the field of machine learning. There are plenty of challenges for machine learning researchers. You have access to massive and fresh data collected in web applications, and have the opportunity to collaborate with MS Research, product engineering, and various groups across Microsoft. In addition, Microsoft is open about what we are doing in the machine learning space, and there is no prohibition in publishing your new findings as a researcher. It is a privilege to work with so many brilliant, well known colleagues on productions that have millions of users. Microsoft makes it very easy to stay involved in the broader machine learning community by offering the opportunity to attend major conferences and events, where you can share your research, network with others, and learn about the major trends in the machine learning space.</p> <p>Want a job like mine? Check out our machine learning job opportunities: <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/vpGsnm">http://bit.ly/vpGsnm</a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing How to do a job search on the “down low”….by Amanda Matthews</h1> <p>2011-11-14T19:58:00Z</p> <p></p> <p>In today's tough market, the best time to look for a job is while you have one. I often have candidates that are concerned about confidentiality...especially when they weren't looking and I reached out to them. So if you plan to start a job search and you are concerned about the word getting out to your current employer, I have provided some Do's and Don'ts that may help:</p> <p>DON'T </p> <ul> <li>Tell coworkers that you are interviewing. It's best to keep the information to yourself. Even the most well-meaning coworkers, can have a slip of tongue.</li> <li>Post your resume to job boards without carefully reviewing the content. Without some edits to your resume, you may be making it easy for your current employer to figure out who you are. After all, there is a reason why your skills are in demand. A recruiter with your current company is likely trying to find your next colleague. </li> <li>Post your work email or phone number on your resume unless you are comfortable with a recruiter reaching out to you through those channels. I often get candidates surprised that I emailed them at a work address that was listed on their resume. If you don't have a personal account, now is the time to create one. </li> </ul> <p>DO</p> <ul> <li>Update your resume and profile on Linked in. Linked in is a great tool to update your resume where recruiters have access to you, but you don't appear actively engaged in a job search. It's also a good idea to send out invitations to former colleagues and grow your network. Their team may have an opening that would be a perfect fit for you.</li> <li>Plan ahead and make sure you have adequate vacation time to take off for an interview.</li> <li>Let your recruiter know that you need confidentiality. This becomes more important if you are interviewing in the same city where you reside and are well networked. There are steps we can take on our side that will increase your confidentiality, like providing a conference room away from your former colleagues or friends and reminding the interview team that your interview has a heightened amount of confidentiality.</li> <li>Ask your recruiter about suggested attire. At Microsoft, business casual attire is acceptable for interviewing and will not raise any red flags at your current employer. If a suit is the best choice, make sure to leave it in the car. </li> <li>Make applications online to companies of interest. If you read a job description that is a good match for your skills....the company is likely looking for you!</li> </ul> <p>As always, continue to work hard and foster good relationships with your boss and coworkers. This will come in handy in the future if you ever need a list of references. Happy Hunting! </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Eugenia Sawa tells us...Why She Recruits for Online Advertising</h1> <p>2011-11-09T19:42:00Z</p> <p></p> <p>Why I recruit for Online Advertising...</p> <p>As with the type of engineers I am trying to recruit and hire, I see this as such a huge opportunity to get to work with Engineers who generate revenue for the company - truly add to the bottom line, work on something that is in the online space where the scale is huge and the transactions are many, and see how the world of search advertising evolves over time. Today I'm showcasing two of our hottest teams within the Online Advertising family.</p> <p>You can get to know us a little better and find out how each group fits into the larger ecosystem that is Microsoft's Online Services Division. Read on....</p> <p>Delivery Engine Team - the guts of our online advertising machine. Who else will ensure that the thousands of transactions that occur in seconds occur seamlessly without major latency? Who else will make sure that our system is always available, scalable, and optimized? This team does it and with great passion. This team is looking for developers that excel in distributed systems and for engineers who have experience with huge amounts of data. What kind of experience? Map Reduce, Big Table, Hadoop type experience.</p> <p>Revenue and Relevance Team - When you search for 'True Religion' on Bing, you expect your ads to bring up relevant ads on jeans/denim and not ads on world religion. This team works on the actual algorithms to ensure the right advertisements are reflected on Bing. This of course involves developers who excel in machine learning, data mining, AI, and NLP. PhD's are very welcome and would share some great company on this team. This is for the developer who dabbles in both applied and research. This team offers a unique ability to apply your knowledge in these areas to challenging large scale problems that are 'live' as in on the web. If you are a PhD with expertise in these areas and a strong developer to boot - this might be the place for you. Did I mention that we have training data for you? Tons and tons of it.</p> <p>Eugenia </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Job hunting lessons learned from the NBA strike - by Eugenia</h1> <p>2011-11-08T20:47:00Z</p> <p></p> <p>Our very own recruiter Eugenia Sawa, gives advice to how to look for a job like a Pro. She provides great tips for the job seekers in all shapes and sizes. Click <a href="http://www.jobsblog.com/blog/nba-lockout-inspires-real-world-job-search-advice">here</a> to learn more. </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Meet Robb Anderson - UX Designer for Bing</h1> <p>2011-11-04T14:29:00Z</p> <p></p> <p> I joined Microsoft over 11 years ago - and have been in love with the company and the products we create ever since, especially my current team here at Bing!</p> <p>I wrapped up design school quite a few years ago, and afterwards bounced around at some local design agencies and worked in a range of design mediums from print and branding to interaction. I ended up contracting here at Microsoft where I worked on User Experience for online games, back when online was considered a new platform and online multi-player gaming was uncharted territory. Once I got a small taste of the potential here at Microsoft I was hooked - where else in the world would I be able to help shape the future of how people interact with software on such a broad and impactful scale? I loved the idea of being able to design the experience of consumer products that everyone uses, especially over a longer lifespan than just a single release or client review.</p> <p>One of the great assets that we lean on constantly here at Bing is the immense level of desire, passion, and drive from every member on the team to get our experience right for our users. From gathering data in user studies by working closely with our user research team, to collecting data on how our product is being used real time the real world - we're constantly collecting information, synthesizing concepts based on what we've retrieved, and then working extra hard to build what we've learned into the Bing User Experience. What we are making is an experience based on more than just one person's personal preference, or a single client's expectations - it's a dynamic, active and living entity that is truly transformed by the people that are using it.</p> <p>The potential here at Bing is huge - and the opportunities still as exciting as when I joined years ago. I get to help evolve and improve the way that people search and explore their worlds - with their help. J</p> <p>-Robb Anderson</p> <p>---------------</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Bing Confessions of a Data Addict</h1> <p>2011-11-04T14:20:00Z</p> <p>My name is Andrea and I am a data addict. I admit it - I prefer data driven decisions over gut feeling. </p> <p>I have spent the last three years with the Online Services Division working with Audience data. Audience data is that data that we term as everything after the click. It is the data that takes all the page views and clicks and translates into what our 'audience' likes and does not like. One of the things I take great pride in, is the fact that privacy is job one here. We separate YOU from the data that anyone even gets a chance to look at it; and once YOU have been separated from that data - there is no way to reconnect YOU with that data. I love that. </p> <p>You may ask why I am so proud of this - well I know that when I log into MSN, Hotmail or even Bing my actions are not going to some crazy archive in the sky locked away forever after. Instead when I execute a search on Bing as Andrea, I know that the only thing that is actually going to be tracked is that someone searched for faux fur handbags on Friday October 21 at 10:11 pm PST and viewed 3 pages of results clicking through on 4 links then looked at Bing images. That is important to me, my family and especially my friends; and it is not something we really brag about either. </p> <p>Ok, enough gushing. Let me tell you about what I do. I work in Business and Customer Intelligence. My actual title is Sr. Process Manager. It is a really cool job that focuses on two things: </p> <ul> <li>1. Data Quality</li> <li>2. Automation</li> </ul> <p>First off, what good is data if it is not high quality data? Do you really want to be making decisions with data only to find out later that you only have half of all the data from one of your key markets? My job started off by aiding in the design of quality measurements across all of the systems that touch our data. Once that was done, I did a couple of Six Sigma and LEAN projects to optimize the quality and speed of data to our users. I also helped to design a scorecard that is targeted specifically in communicating the state of quality over time of our data. </p> <p>Eventually I was able to replace a huge part of my job through automation. I am not talking simple automation here - i.e. a stored procedure. I developed complex business logic to triage alarms thrown by our systems and data processes and translate that to what is critical information for our business users. The important thing to remember here is that system alarms mean nothing to analysts and therefore this was a lot of logic. The coolest thing is that we are soon to launch a full self-serve portal where our internal data users can get up to the minute information about the data they care about most. </p> <p>I came to this job with a love for process. In the last 3 years I have become the 1<sup>st</sup> person internationally to become an IASA (International Association of Software Architects) certified Information Architect - and that, I think, is really cool. I am certified in Six Sigma and LEAN and I have a BFA in Film and a deep love for data - I am proof that you can do anything that you set your mind to. Check us out - especially if you are a data addict like me, you will be amazed how much you will grow!!</p> <p>Want a job like mine? Please visit: <a href="http://bit.ly/rPSuUv">http://bit.ly/rPSuUv</a></p> <p><i>Andrea Cifor has over 20 years of experience building and consulting in quality, process and information management. Andrea has proven success in authoring organizational best practices for integration, data quality management and fitness by design. <br /><br />Andrea began her technical career as a contractor at Lucent Technologies analyzing service response for optimization in the Call Management Systems division. Immediately jumping into the dot.com boom, Andrea established quality practices in a number of companies before shifting focus to performance and fault management in the Telecom industry. Honing skills in product quality, user acceptance and integration practices until moving on to start a consultancy focusing on BPM and SOA implementation and alignment. After the sale and dissolution of the consultancy, Andrea joined Microsoft.<br /><br />While at Microsoft, Andrea has focused on business technology transformation in terms of quality and process. Andrea is an IASA certified CITA-P Information Architect and is certified in Six Sigma and LEAN. As a Sr. Process Manager in the Online Services Division, Andrea is an active mentor to architects, has presented core skills modules on architecture and quality to specialty groups within Microsoft and is responsible for contributions to IASA training and publications. </i></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> </main></body></html>