Event Recruiting - Microsoft is coming to you!
Even as an industry recruiter we do take the "show on the road" from time to time; I personally have been involved with 3 different events and across the Microsoft Business Division recruiting team I know there have been several more. We visit different locations like Ottawa, Canada, Austin, Texas, and the Silicon Valley and I know one of the groups in MBD is looking at New England and the South East for upcoming events.
There are different variations of an event, but the type I am talking about are typically an "invitation only" event to interview with Microsoft in your local area. It can be quite fun and always challenging to get these events set up and the interview schedule filled. As you have come to know through JobsBlog and other avenues, Microsoft has a high standard and a thorough screening process for interviews and the event setting is no different. I typically identify candidates that have the skill set that I am looking for and send out an escreen for them to complete which I follow up with a 30 minute phone conversation to review the screen and ask follow up technical questions. After this the candidates are scheduled with a hiring manager for another follow up call and if they make it through that, are invited to the event and take one of the interview spots.
The Unified Communications Group is the latest group within Microsoft Business Division to host such an event. Microsoft's vision for unified communications enables a people-centric solution of rich, intuitive, and seamless communications across e-mail, IM, voice, data, video, and conferencing. Microsoft offers companies a complete software platform that unifies all communications with their business applications and processes, streamlining how people reach each other and communicate. The product groups include; Exchange Server, Live Meeting, Live Communication Server and Communicator.
We are hosting an invitation only interview event at our Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, CA in November and while the slots are filling up there are still a few available. This event we are focusing on Program Managers for our UCG teams. If you feel that you have the skills that make you an excellent Program Manager candidate, currently live in the Silicon Valley and are open to relocating to Redmond, WA please contact me through jobsblog@microsoft.com and put SVC Event attn: Eric in the title!
Who knows you may be the new hire Program Manager to take part in a JobCast!!
~Eric
8 Comments
Susan said:
Hi Eric,
I'm out surfing for Technical Recruiters that might want to work for a new technology company in Winston Salem NC. They are seeking someone with 1-3 years of proven experience in a role that can be worked predominantly a home location as long as they live within a commuting distance from the HQ in Winston.
How would you suggest I source for the best candidate?
I assume I need to check back to this site to see how you respond? I'm new to this posting and blogging approach so I'm including my e-mail address too. You can reach me at svanhoy@dedicatedpr.com.
Thanks,
Susan
Eric said:
Hi Susan,
I am quite happy with my role here at Microsoft and I work from a home office in Atlanta, GA for my Redmond based groups. I will offline with you on some of the sites I have used in the past and sourcing strategies for finding recruiters, but this isn't the best forum for it as we are focused on Core Tech Hiring and Interview questions/information at Microsoft.
Regards,
Eric
M said:
Hello Eric. Thank you for your great articles. I recently completed the phone screen portion of the PM interview process and have now been invited to the UCG event in November. I am hoping you might be able to shed some light on the format of the event. I am also hoping to get some insight with respect to the types of interviews I will be participating in along with the types of questions I should be prepared to answer. I'm not seeking a "cheat sheet," I simply would like to know where to focus the lion's share of my preparation. Thank you in advance.
Eric said:
Hi M!
Congratulations on being invited to our event!
Now that you have been through the phone screen portion you are aware of the types of questions and have a better idea of the position description.
The event interview session will not differ from an interview cycle that is held on our Redmond campus. You will go through a series of in person interviews and will talk to a couple teams about opportunities. The only real difference is that for invitation only events we come to you to hold the interviews instead of flying you to the Redmond campus. The interviews will cover technical questions as our Program Managers are very technical in nature as well as project management and customer facing types of questioning.
As far as preparation I would spend time on the Microsoft site and the web researching our Unified Communications Group offerings. I hope that helps you.
Eric
Miki said:
Hi Eric,
Hope Your doing well. I am a fresh graduate and I have looking for job opportunites at Microsoft in Boston and New York for a really long time. However, I am currently in Fremont, CA which is about twenty minutes away from Mountain View, CA. I've been applying for jobs at the Microsoft Careers website, I am in touch with the Boston University Recruiter and I have been in touch with a few people from the HR department at Microsoft who I must add have been extremely helpful, but I was also wondering if you knew of any job fairs or recruiting events that were going to take place any time soon, or if it was possible for me to speak with a recruiter during this up coming event about working at Microsoft even though I am not looking for a job opportunity as a Program Manager.
Any advice would be extremely helpful.
Thank You,
Miki
Bharath said:
Hi Eric,
I hope you are doing great!!
My Name is Bharath! I am working for a Microsoft Vendor in India. My passion is to work customer service and if it’s Microsoft then it’s my pleasure! I have been working for service industry for past 3 years. I am working for a Microsoft vendor. I am looking jobs @ Microsoft for PSS as a Tech Lead. Please guide me and tell me what do I need to do? As in where do I need to submit my resume? I have done that on <a rel="nofollow" target="_new" href="http://www.microsoft.com/careers">http://www.microsoft.com/careers</a> . But I have not got any call or an e-mail from many days. I am a tech lead as of now and I have done MCP. I would also want to know if Microsoft has some educational barriers, as in do they only take MS, M Tech or B Tech. because am doing BCA now! I hope you understand my situation. Please do reply! Even if you could guide me with some direction it would really be very helpful.
Thank you in anticipation,
Bharath
Crystal said:
Hi Eric,
I am the Events Recruiter for a major .com in the Seattle area and am looking for other Event recruiters to connect with and share ideas and thoughts.
Lets connect offline via email, you can reach me at cserrato@amazon.com.
Thanks and I look forward to your email.
Crystal said:
Hi Eric,
I am the Events Recruiter for a major .com in the Seattle area and am looking for other Event recruiters to connect with and share ideas and thoughts.
Lets connect offline via email, you can reach me at cserrato@amazon.com.
Thanks and I look forward to your email.