Dear JobsBlog:
I’m about to graduate from college and will have 13 months remaining on my GI Bill benefit, which can be used for certifications or other job training. Would Microsoft prefer that I had certifications in Microsoft products, or is that something I could be trained in upon hiring?
-GI Bill to Microsoft
 
Today's Dear JobsBlog will be answered by Guest JobsBlogger RJ Naugle.

Dear GI Bill to Microsoft:
Thank you for your question. I recommend that you do an assessment of the qualifications necessary for the position you are interested in and identify what skills you may lack for the job. If a job requires a Microsoft certification, it will usually specify it in the job description.

I always tell job candidates, specifically fellow military veterans, that there is no one cookie-cutter way to joining the ranks of Microsoft.  However, there are several things you can do to up your chances of an interview. 

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Simon & Garfunkel's epic lyrics were an anthem for my generation. Who can forget a young Dustin Hoffman staring thoughtfully into a fish tank with the words saying…"Hello darkness, my old friend; I have come to talk to you again.” Today, the "sounds of silence" seems to be what job seekers experience when they apply for jobs. As one waits impatiently for some communication, the stillness is stifling. 

Dustin Hoffman's character (Benjamin Braddock) in The Graduate, was drawn to the silence because of uncertainties about the course his career direction. Today's graduates (as well as most job seekers) are forced into a silent mode because of uncertainties generated by a lack of feedback from their position inquiries.  

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By Elizabeth Hoogs

Too often I hear that one of the top reasons a student does not apply to Microsoft is because our interview process is intimidating. I agree, it is. But trust me, you should apply anyway since you might be surprised.

I'm sure there is someone reading this blog right now who's saying, "Yeah! I didn’t think I would make it through with a positive outcome, but I did!"  Trying could be the difference between receiving an offer or not.

Furthermore (and this may sound arrogant, but bear with me), try again.

In College Recruiting, our policy is give each candidate one year between interviews to grow, gain experience, and refine their skills.  If you weren’t successful the first time you tried, a lot of other recruiters and I think you should try again.  Taking classes, working on projects, and gaining skills (including interview skills) can make a huge difference, but we won't be able to determine that if we don't hear from you.

Don’t get me wrong.  Our interviews are challenging, the prospect of failure isn’t appealing, and no one enjoys the job search.  But there are so many people out there who never thought they would have a shot until I asked them to interview, or until they saw a friend or peer get an offer and then realized that they, too, might be able to make it through Microsoft interviews.

In the words of my mentor, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

Take it from me – it also didn’t happen on the first try.

By Eric Stutzman 

Looking for a new career opportunity can be time consuming; especially if you are doing your search as a fulltime employee at your present company.

The first stop for many people is a job board.  There are many choices in job boards that you can use; Monster, CareerBuilder, Workopolis, Hot Jobs, Dice, and Computer Jobs are among the prevalent ones.  There is also a movement out there to take the job boards to the next level or in a different direction with companies like Market10 leading the way.  Think eHarmony meets Monster.  There are some differences between them but in many ways they are more similar than not.  Now let me say for the record that these sites have large communities, are used daily by many recruiters/jobseekers and have 100s of 1000s of views per month, but are they going to yield you the best results if you are only using the boards and the boards alone?  Probably not. 

You also need to spend time researching your target.  In my introduction post I shared a bit about how I became a Microsoft employee.  As I mentioned in the article you should research the companies that you are interested in becoming an employee.  Ok now that you have decided on Microsoft let’s set a strategy in place. ;-)

What are your interests?  Gaming?  Business Applications?  Servers?  Communications?  Search?  The beautiful thing about Microsoft is it offers a vast array of career channels.  Research, research, research.  Pop open Live Search and find related articles about Microsoft and the group / industry segment you are interested in.  You will find quotes from people within the community; this is useful to note as if you search on the individuals you find you might run across their blog and they may be open to communication with you!

Once you have done your research head on over to our career site and apply for select positions.  But don’t stop there!  Applying to a position is only ONE of the things that you can do to try and land that dream job.  Besides just browsing job boards and researching your target you also should spend time networking with your friends, family, and peers and/or expanding your networking to include new people.  There are a variety of networking sites and tools to get you started and way too many to list here, but Wikipedia has a nice compilation. 

I have been a long time user of LinkedIn and find it in my opinion to be a top notch business related networking site.  You can search by company, by keyword, titles and a variety of other ways.  Spend sometime on the appropriate sites looking for people in similar positions to yourself and/or managers looking for people with your skill sets that match your interests and reach out to them.  Often times you will need to get introduced to them and please pay close attention to the types of contacts that the user you want to reach is accepting. 

So remember in today’s recruiting world while the big job boards are certainly one set of tools in your job hunting tool box, it isn’t and shouldn’t be the only set.  Use your search engines, V2 job communities, networking sites and always remember to apply directly to the companies that you want to work and leverage relationships with people you know there!

Give networking a try!  You may be surprised who you run into on your way to your new office!

~Eric

By Elizabeth Hoogs

In the last three weeks, I have been to as many schools and as many career fairs.  I just finished the Fall Career Fair at University of Wisconsin Madison, and after shaking hands and collecting resumes, I have a stack of candidates who stood out to me and my colleagues as passionate, smart, and will be invited for first round interviews.  So what did they do right?

Career Fairs are brutal.  You poor students wonder among the booths, weave your way through the crowds, resumes in hand, trying to catch the eye of a recruiter.  Your job is to communicate your interests and impress me in a very short period of time.  Here are a few tips on being noticed (in a good way;-)).

1. Come Prepared with a resume:
Please come with a resume, preferably 1 page, 1 side.  If you are going to have a 2+ page resume, please staple the two pages.  I will often get back to the office with a single, nameless second page.  Please make sure the contact information and grad date are up to date on your resume. 

2. Do quick research on the companies you plan to visit:
Most Career Service Centers will post which companies will be attending the fairs.  By spending a few minutes on each of your targeted companies, you will learn about the opportunities they offer.  This helps you highlight your skills relevant to those positions while speaking to the recruiter and you stand out as a driven candidate.  Knowing what you want is really important to us; it’s often not just about what you can do, but what you want to do. 

3. Tell me about yourself, not your resume:
We love the opportunity to speak with students and get beyond the resume.  Try to emphasize what you’re passionate about doing and back it up with examples of what you’ve done, but do not read from your resume.  Take the opportunity to tell the recruiter about your passions, interests, and how they can be realized at their company and trust that they will look at your resume in depth later. 

Of course, skill level, which positions are open or not, and your talent are the primary determining factors, but these might help you showcase your potential match for a given company.  I hope these can help you increase your success and that you hear from many companies!

Liz

When you met your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, you were probably prepared for the basic compromises that come with a relationship, but did you expect to sacrifice your career for the sake of your spouse?

This is a question that plagues recruiters daily.  We even have a term for this type of situation; it is called “trailing spouse."  Trailing Spouses are a big problem for recruiters; the company wants to hire you, but in order to get you to say “yes,” they have to help out your spouse so you can happily move together.

This problem has plagued me both professionally and personally. My partner (who is also a Microsoft employee) and I have pursued various other opportunities during our combined 12 careers at Microsoft, and while the buzz of the Silicon Valley has called to us many times, we have never been able to both line up compelling jobs at exactly the same moment; so we (happily) remain.

What can you expect from your recruiter if you have a trailing spouse? It depends.  There is no policy or formal program in place to help your mate, so it largely depends on the motivation of your recruiter to help.  My advice if this is your situation is as follows:

• Mention your spouse’s employment as a concern early in the process.
• Have your partner get independently motivated early on to drive their own job hunt.
• Send your mate’s resume to your recruiter early.
• Make note on the resume that no relocation is necessary (or better yet, use a local address).  Since you will relocate as a couple there is no additional expense to an employer on a second relocation package.

Good Luck ... and keep that bickering to a minimum.   Happy endings always include getting to keep your sweetheart.

-Jenna

By Elizabeth Hoogs

We talk about “college candidates” a lot on JobsBlog, but who does and doesn’t this term refer to?  While at first glance this seems somewhat easy (they’re in college, Liz), I want to talk not just about what makes a “college” candidate as opposed to an “Industry” candidate, but what makes a college student a successful candidate which hopefully trends toward success in the first few years in their career. 

We define a college candidate as someone currently pursuing a degree (as a full time student) or has graduated within the last 12 months.  We actively recruit candidates pursuing a Bachelors, Masters (including MBA), or PhD.  Students who have been out of school for more than 12 months are considered an Industry candidate and should apply to the jobs found on the external careers website.  There are cases that are not as clear cut, where a student might return to school after working in the industry or someone who is working full time while pursuing a degree.  Situations can vary from person to person so it's not easy to say whether a college recruiter or industry recruiter would be the best person to work with you.  If you are in one of these "fuzzy" situations, I'd recommend applying through both our college and experienced websites.  If we have a match, the right recruiter will contact you, and don't worry - we'll still match you with the most appropriate role for your years and level of experience.

For our software development positions (PM, SDE, & SDET), we recruit from the usual suspects: Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Software Engineering.  We also look for opportunities to fill core technical positions from outside the traditional disciplines, including Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Math.  If a candidate is passionate about creating software and has the foundation of applicable skills, we are dedicated to teaching them the rest. 

We expect a successful college candidate coming out of one of the core disciplines to be passionate about building software, to be smart, and to have strong technical skills relative to their experience.  We also have a set of what we call “Microsoft Values” for which we hold a high bar.  To be a successful college candidate, you need to have a balanced blend of technical skills and core competencies.  We need to determine, based on class work, and outside internships and experiences, that a candidate has the capacity to learn, grow, and excel.  You are, very much, our future. 

It sounds cliché by this time, but Microsoft highly values one’s potential.  The company was started by two gutsy college students and since then has maintained a commitment to bringing in new graduates as fresh voices to drive our products.  With robust training and mentorship programs, we offer the opportunity for someone to come in and gain experience while building the next generation of software. 

Please let me know if you would like to hear more on any of these topics and I will post in more depth.  As bloggers, we are here to give you the content we hope will be helpful, so let us know!

-Liz

As you saw from the last post, Microsoft highly values hiring campus candidates. We also know there's a group of you who are "tweeners"- you're not technically a campus candidate (been out of school for more than one year) but you don't have a ton of experience yet to compete with some of the industry hot shots.

This year, we are trying to solve this problem and expand our efforts with the introduction of our "Campus Plus" program.  Jamie Morgan (a recruiter on my team) is starting the effort and I asked her to write a bit about it for all of you:

Campus Plus will target those of you who have been out of school 1-3 years and are ready to make an impact at Microsoft.  Did you go through the interview process after finishing school and think you had found the perfect job? Only to realize that while you're getting work experience, you're not getting the tools you need to grow your career?  We already have the tools in place to tell you how to grow your career and we will provide the training, mentoring and development to help you achieve your goals.  Through Campus Plus, we will offer structure and opportunity.  We will give you the training and career model you may have been promised at other companies, but are not receiving.

Do you want Jamie to get a sneak peak at your resume? Go ahead and send it to her at campplus@microsoft.com.