Office 2010 Professional Plus blog positions-at-mi

By Julia Colvin I’ve observed a pattern this summer time (at least with candidates I’m interviewing) of interns wanting to convert to full-time positions, but positions other than these they interned for: SDEs wanting to be SDETs, PMs wanting to be SDEs, etc. Frequently, I have candidates ask whether they are “stuck” in the group or position they have accepted an offer from. “Stuck” is a horrible way to put it, but that’s the gist of it; they want to know if they don’t like their specific job or group and want to move in the future if that’s the end of their career with Microsoft. The answer is no; that’s not the end of your career and you are never “stuck.” We generally ask people to stay within the group they are hired into for a complete year if full-time and for the duration of their internship as an intern. Our goal is not to pigeon-hole you into a specific position and group for the rest of your life, but rather to help you find the position and group that are the best fit for you – sticking with a team or position for a year a minimum of gives you the opportunity to really learn that job and know if it is a fit for you or not. It’s going to sound really cliché, but it’s 100% true that happy employees are productive employees - the people who like what they’re working on and feel like their creativity is being tapped. So how are you going to know what position and group are best for you? I can’t really say, but trust me, you’ll know it when you find it … it’ll be that position that when you blink; it’s already quitting time for the day ... where you like your team, where you feel you can support your company and its products, and where you feel like your work is worthwhile and you’re getting somewhere. If you’re just starting to look at jobs at Microsoft, check out the college website and the area that says “What Can I Do @ Microsoft.” It has descriptions for full-time SDE, SDET and PM positions, as well as for internships. Understand that this is just a brief overview, and when you are actually interviewed, we want to know what your entire skill set is, not just what you feel you’ve tailored to fit the rough outline we’ve given you. We hire people on potential, and your job is to show us what you’ve got. When you talk with a campus recruiter or a CCI’er (College Campus Interviewer), they’ll likely ask you which position you’re most interested in. Just because you interview for one position doesn’t mean it’ll be the perfect fit for you. In fact, on multiple occasions, I have interviewers suggest that a candidate might be a better fit for another position based upon the skills they’re demonstrating in an interview. Also,Office 2010 Professional Plus, read about our business divisions (also on the college website) and keep up on the products that interest you. Generally, you’ll be asked by a campus recruiter what groups are of interest to you, and this will have an impact on the groups you meet. Also, understand that not everyone can work in XBOX or Games Studio I’m not trying to squash anyone’s dreams, but I am trying to be realistic in saying that every other candidate I talk with mentions an interest in open positions in these groups and there are only so many of them. My one sentence version of this is: Read up on our positions and business divisions and try to figure out where you think you’ll best fit into the company, but know that you are not “stuck” in the same position or group for your entire career at Microsoft. Julia