Entries tagged 'international'
International Careers: Copenhagen Development Center
In my last post I mentioned that we would be touring the globe visiting some of our international development centers. Our third stop: Copenhagen, Denmark. Take a moment to find out more about one of the 'Softies that works at this location and what he works on. Some pretty interesting stuff happens on our campuses around the world! For a listing of all of our open development roles in Copenhagen, click here.
All the best - Anne‘Softie in Question: Christian Heide Damm
Job title: Development Lead on the Microsoft Dynamics AX teamChristian, can you tell us a little bit about what you do?
I work with a Dynamics AX team, which means that we build the backbone administrative system for many companies; managing their financials, production, inventory, trade and more.
Are most of the roles in Copenhagen in Dynamics or are there a good variety of other roles too?
During my 7 plus years here, I have had 3 significantly different roles on 3 different projects. It is very important to me that I am able to move around in the organization, to try out new roles and be on new projects.Fortunately, the Development Center in Copenhagen is large and varied enough to allow this; we have 600 people working in at least 4 major projects, so there are plenty of opportunities.
What is it like to work at a subsidiary office instead of Microsoft’s headquarters?
We are a relatively small development center – and that means that you get to know many of your co-workers. We feel closer to each other. You don’t feel lost in the crowd. But you still get to work directly on many projects that impact the world of software.Are the employees primarily from Denmark or is it a pretty international office?
About half of the employees here are non-Danes, and people come from 44 different countries. The multi-nationalism makes it possible for us to develop products that are good a fit with customers across the world. I also love the stories that people tell about their home countries. It’s funny and educational.Give us the basics of the Copenhagen campus.
It is located 20 km (12 miles) from Copenhagen. Most people come by car, some come by bike and many use public transportation. There’s frequent train service from Copenhagen, and Microsoft has arranged a shuttle bus from the train station to the campus, so it’s quite convenient.
The campus is really nice, with gardens, green areas, a small forest, and a lake. There’s even a large grass field on the campus. It gets used for all sorts of activities, like soccer and Frisbee. It’s almost calming to walk around campus.
Microsoft offers a large number of social and sports activities through its “Club Sport & More.” There are activities like wine tasting, golf tournament, SCUBA diving, cinema events, skiing trip, swimming lessons, badminton, running and biking.
Is it better to have coding experience in the US or abroad?
Dear JobsBlog: I am a developer with 6 years of experience working outside of the US. American recruiters have been rejecting my application and I suspect that it is because of the international-nature of my coding experience. I thought that coding was not affected by place. Does the location of my coding experience really matter?-International Dev
Dear International Dev: It is unlikely that they would pass on you based solely on the geography of where your coding experience is gained. That said, there are many factors at play when considering candidates with international experience – some of which, may inhibit our ability to consider you further.Here are a few personal examples where I’ve rejected resumes with International experience. Perhaps one of these applies and will help shed some light?
The candidate requires a new visa, yet none are available. There really aren’t many options for overcoming this obstacle. No matter how strong a resume may be, there is a legal barrier here, which must be respected.
The candidate still lives abroad. This is a problem of time and money and – as painful as it might be to admit – it’s not about picking the absolute best candidate. Frankly, interviewing an international candidate takes longer and costs more money. For some positions, it might not make sense when a domestic and equally qualified candidate can be found faster.
The resume isn’t the best match for the role. The years of experience listed are just a number; other qualifications must also be considered, as well as the depth of that experience and the overall quality of the resume.
The important thing I’d want candidates to know here is that Resume Review is both a quantitative and comparative process. Recruiters are evaluating resumes based both on the requirements of the position and how that resume compares to the others in the stack.
The fine print/some critical reflection: with any generic question, it’s important to remember that each position is different in what it will and won’t consider. A personal frustration, which I’m sure many of our readers share, is that most job boards (and job descriptions) do not make it easy to search and filter positions based on the above type of criteria.
Our systems also do not currently provide automated updates to a candidate at the earliest stages of consideration. This is commonly perceived as the “Black hole effect,” and unfortunately, not going away soon. Just know that recruiters like myself are spending hours each week reading the resumes which are submitted to us, and there is *usually* a good reason if we aren’t moving forward.
-Kenji
