So long...Farewell...auf Wiedersehen...Adieu...
Saying goodbye is never an easy thing to do, but there comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to evaluate where you are and where you want to be going. At the heart of the matter, change can be good and bring a fresh perspective. That said, it is with mixed emotions that I tell you I am leaving Microsoft and this is my last blog post.
We have talked a lot about careers on this site and I think all of you agree that having diversified experience can only strengthen your career path. I have decided to accept a job at another company in order to broaden my own experience and growth opportunities. I am excited about the prospects of recruiting for different positions in a different industry at a different location.
Microsoft has been an amazing experience for me and I hope you will all continue to explore opportunities at the company. I feel lucky and privileged to have worked at this company and contributed to its success by finding and hiring top quality technical talent. The people I have worked with and the experiences that I have had have shaped my career in so many ways. This past year has been transformational for me with helping to start the blog and interacting with candidates and prospects in such a rich and meaningful way. I will miss interacting with you all on a daily basis.
Gretchen has been and will continue to be the flag bearer for this blog indefinitely. I can’t say that I am passing the torch to her, but I hope that I have helped to fuel the fire along the way. And who knows, you might see me pop up in other places in the future. Until then I wish you sincere luck in your own professional endeavors!
Take care,
Zoë
42 Comments
Rich C said:
Now that is a shock! No more Moon Gals? You will be missed on these pages.
I hope that it will seem appropriate for Gretchen to link to your (inevitable) new blog. Thanks for the memories and "we wish you well in your future endeavors".
Michael Kaplan said:
Thank you for the marvelous work that you did, and good luck in your future endeavors -- you will definitely be missed!
John G. said:
It's been fun reading your posts. Best of luck in your new company, and don't forget to start a blog there :-)
Phillip Renouf said:
Good luck in the new job Zoe and thanks so much for all the information that you've given use through the blog!
Perhaps you will continue blogging at your new job? ;)
Phil
zoe said:
Thanks everyone for your comments!
Rich - just wanted to let you know that this blog will continue to exist (same url, same title, same RSS feed etc) and that the other moon gal will still be here :)
I definitely am considering starting either a personal blog or similar. I have enjoyed the experience too much not to! I am not sure yet if my new company would support a company blog, but we'll see.
harry robinson said:
We'll miss you. Thanks for all the great work you've done, and good luck with the future!
Best regards,
Harry
Apoorva Joshi said:
Zoe, you surely will be missed. Good luck with your new job. You sure have a reputation to live up to there!
- Apoorva
PS: Does this mean the Microsoft recruiting Team has an open position? Brian Korzeniowski, are u readin this? ;-)
Peter Stathakos said:
That is a BIG shock. We'll definately miss you Zoe and I hope that you keep blogging from whever you end up. Best of luck!
Christian Buckley said:
Zoe, I all appreciate the content you've provided through this blog -- good luck with your new endeavor!
Jeremy C. Wright said:
Yes, yes, yes, don't give up blogging! Congrats on the move. Hopefully it's a happy one :)
Zarbie said:
Satcha and I will miss you, good luck!
Andrew said:
Good luck for the future Zoe, may the road rise to meet you. Like a lot of other people I do hope that you continue to blog, whether it's personal or work related.
In the meantime, keep up the good work Gretchen!
Andrew.
Chris Woodruff said:
Good luck and thanks for your hard work. I hope 2005 brings peace and joy.
William Luu said:
All the best at your new position Zoe!
I will continue to be subscribed to this blog, and hope you find the time at your new job to also write a blog there.
If you do, then i'll probably subscribe to it since I've enjoyed both yours, and Gretchens' posts.
zoe said:
Wow! Thanks again everyone. This is really very encouraging and I hope to meet up with you all again in another blog one day :)
Tod said:
As embarassed as I should be to admit this I'm going to do it anyway...I just found this blog a few weeks ago. :-\ The bright side is that I have been enjoyed it quite a bit as I'm working my way through some old posts. :)
Best of luck to you Zoe and you should definitely start another blog!
I also look forward to Gretchen's continued commentary on the hiring process here at MS. It's quite the machine... ;-)
Heather said:
My friend Zoe...I'd be sad for myself if I didn't think that I will actually see more of you now that you are making the change. You will be my good excuse to cross the bridge!
I'm sad for Microsoft, but I know you are doing a great job of managing your career and trying some new things. I can't believe we started at the same time and you are leaving! Of course, we will try and get you back someday ; )
Good luck girly...let's have a drink to celebrate your new adventure!
Michael Specht said:
Good luck in your new job, hope to see your new blog out there soon.
Mike Dunn said:
*sniffle*
*waves goodbye sadly*
PS: You have the coolest name ever. ;)
Brian Korzeniowski said:
Your professionalism and enthusiasm for recruiting all types of persons will be sadly missed. Thanks for all the video appearances and all the information about Microsoft.
Best wishes to you Zoe. :-)
Vimal Earnest said:
Good luck. Zoe.
You will be missed :)
AT said:
Good luck to you Zoë at Washington Mutual !!
BTW, WaMu has a pretty fine <a target="_new" href="http://www.wamu.com/about/jobs/jobopportunities.htm">http://www.wamu.com/about/jobs/jobopportunities.htm</a> website and pretty active in recruiting events <a target="_new" href="http://www.wamu.com/about/jobs/recruitingevents/calendarsummary.htm">http://www.wamu.com/about/jobs/recruitingevents/calendarsummary.htm</a>
I hope they will have a blog too ;-)
Russ C said:
Sorry to see you go!
Technical Careers @ Microsoft said:
Jason said:
you are leaving Microsoft for W a s h i n g t o n M u t u a l ??????
zoe said:
H - Weird how that works, huh? I am really going to miss our lunches, but you'll just have to come downtown to see me :)
Everyone - it continues to amaze me how many of you read and care about our posts! Thanks, thanks, thanks!
AT - Guess the cat's out of the bag, huh? :) Yep, I am going to Washington Mutual and I am really excited about the possibilities and opportunities there. This is a transformational year for them (similar to when I joined Microsoft) and I want to be on the ground floor of hiring the great people that make that transition happen.
See you all on the otherside!
AT said:
Zoe,
A few calls to FBI/CIA plus carefull reading of Robert Scooble posting and all requered information collected ;-)
Something I worry most of all - there are a lot (81) of openinings in HR department in WaMu. 56 of them are in "Human Resources - Recruiting" with more than half (29) or them are in WA state.
I'm worry too much about Gretchen ;-)
<shameless plug>
But there are tiny probability that we can meet at your new job. I've ~2.5 years of banking software development expirience.
</shameless plug>
P.S> Thanks for your signature on Rubik cube. Now it's become exclusive thing - a tiny toy signed by both Moon Gals then they were still working at one company ;-) Nope. You can not find it on eBay ;-)
Kevin said:
Good luck Zoe, and thank you so much for your contribution to this awesome blog. It was really a huge thing to be able to open up the MS hiring practices in the way that you and Gretchen did, and make it much more human. I've enjoyed reading all your posts over the past year. We will all miss you! And please do start a new blog if your new company is open to that.
TDavid said:
Good luck to you, Zoe :)
Andrea Casey said:
Congratulations, Zoe, on your newest adventure! My husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed the 'Moon Gals' blog and will miss reading your candid and informative contributions. Thank you for sharing your insight with us through your blog! :)
Sathyaish Chakravarthy said:
When I saw the title, it appeared to me that one of the Moongals was embarking on a vacation. "Should be Gretchen this time, because Zoe's just had hers in the recent past." Ok, I went on to read the post.
It is like when you are reading a farewell post, and from the language, you can predict what's coming in the following lines even when you've not reached the actual farewell. Reading the first paragraph, I could predict, "one of them, whoever has written this post (I hadn't seen the signature yet), is...no! no! no! that can't be" I stayed at the first paragraph, and my heart was thumping loud. "No, no! That's not possible," I thought. "Come on! Let's read it fully. Nothing to worry about, " I kept thinking.
And when I reached those lines that finally spell it out, I couldn't believe it. I got the same feeling you get when you're caught red-handed doing a bad thing. It was a mixed feeling of fear, insecurity, betrayal, disbelief.
Then, I cooled down and took a deep breath.
It is difficult for me to take stock of my reaction, and I do not know what I am really thinking just now. The feeling is overwhelming, and there's no thought I can see on the canvas of my mind. Zoe, I will miss you from this blog. The Moongals thing now just does not make any sense to me. Now, it's just Gretchen. It takes two to make Moongals. I have one part of me saying, "It's all over now!" as if I'd taken for granted that this blog had a fixed, definite character, and it was just an unnatural as impossible thing if any of its elements changed. It is exremely painful to accept your absence.
At the same time, my heart reaches out to wish you an absolutely fantastic career with your new job. The consolation for me, and I am sure as it will be for many readers, is that there's no such thing as Moongals. It is Zoe and it is Gretchen - two different people. They have thier lives. Zoe is getting a job and she's going to be happy. So, let's hand her a bag of good luck.
Canadian Headhunter (Michael) said:
So long, Zoe. We've enjoyed knowing you. Best of luck in all future ventures. Your bloggin' buddy, Michael.
Canadian Headhunter (Michael) said:
PS: There's a small tribute on our site. And one on www.recruiting.com as well. So long! Farewell. au revior.
Canadian Headhunter (Michael) said:
Zoe, don't be scared. Couldn't resist the original formulation but it's gone thru a few transformations since early morning and I think it's more acceptable now. Tho I don't think you'll know the tunes to the songs - popular tho they once were. Take care.
dotNetting The GhostDev Way said:
Isabelle said:
You ask: What do you think? What I think is that I have missed something very enjoyable. I got on this site because I wanted to find out how to spell auf. Was it auv? or ave? or what. I keyed the word Wiedersehen in my search bar and this site came up. I have been sitting here reading all the alcolades and good wishes to Zoe who is going to a new job. Well shoot ! Just my luck. I always get in on the tail end of everything good.
The JobSyntax Blog said:
Well, hey there. Gretchen here.&nbsp; After a long hiatus :), I am back in the blogosphere. Did you...
James Geurts said:
Congrats on the new opportunity & I hope you continue to blog. It's been nice reading your posts!
thomas woelfer said:
Z,
WM_GOODLUCK
thomas woelfer
Kieran Jacobsen's Blog said:
zoe said:
Wow! Thanks Sathyaish. I have to think that Gretchen is write in terms of impact that we were able to have in this blog and it means a lot that so many are sad to see me go but so support of my career choice.
My only hope is that I can take all the passion, direction and success that I have had here to my new position.
Thanks for the kind words Michael. I checked out your post and I have to admit that I don't know if I should be completely flattered or a little scared :)
Nathan said:
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.