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

Do you read stickyminds?  It’s the online portion of Better Software Magazine and provides great insight on…well what else…making software quality better :)  I think it is a really cool interactive environment to find out more about issues related to this area and network with people from across the industry.

Harry Robinson, resident Microsoft Test Architect, has a great article up there today.  It’s all about tester pride in his opinion or at least evangelizing it through your bumper sticker!

Software testing or quality assurance or whatever you may call it is extremely important to the lifeblood of any software company.  I mean you can’t exactly ship software that doesn’t work for your customer, right?  :)

Just a thought...
Zoë

Someone recently asked me to talk about my relocation experience.  I think it’s a good idea since we haven’t really spent a lot of time writing about that topic.  In fact, I think that we have spent a lot of time focused on resume and interview tips and haven’t spent enough time on what happens if the interviews actually go well and you accept the offer.  I like what one of the comments said in Gretchen’s ask for feedback:

Instead of giving people clues on how to get the job, make them think about being the kind of person that is crucial to Microsoft's success.

I actually think that is a really insightful comment.  Lou Adler, a recognized leader in recruiting, thinks that organizations spend more time looking at qualifications of a good candidate versus those of a good employee.  I tend to agree with him to a certain extent.

But I digress…

The real purpose of the post is to talk a little about relocation and my experience specifically. 

Ordinarily, for the “core technical roles” that we staff in Redmond, WA we provide a fairly generous relocation package.  It typically includes travel to the new location, moving your household goods, transporting your car, temporary housing, rental car, relocation expenses, and storage of your goods for a certain period of time.

I want to stress that this is a gross generalization, but I still think it is fairly hefty given the cost of moving from various locations.  Also, there are groups and positions outside of the core technical roles that may not have the same relocation budget.  (Tip for any job seeker?  Make sure to check upfront what the relocation packages cover!)  Additionally, your recruiter can/will tweak your package depending on your specific circumstances; Are you a homeowner? A renter in the middle of a lease? Do you have a significant other? Kids? Pets? An extensive wine collection? :)

So yeah – the relocation package is great, but what about my experience?  I have to say it was completely uneventful.  The movers came to my apartment and packed all my things for me (nice!).  They came and got my car and put it on a huge flatbed truck.  I flew out to Redmond and by that time Mr. Zoë had already been here for 6 weeks, found an apartment and set it all up for us.  What a man!

What was more difficult for me was actually making the decision to leave family, friends and familiarity to come out to a completely unknown place and job.  What helped me make the decision?  It was (and still is) the opportunity of a lifetime.  Not just working at Microsoft, but also experiencing a place, culture, people and environment that I would never have experienced on the East Coast.  I actually feel a bit like a pioneer since all of my family is in New York and Ohio.  I miss them but the distance is made shorter by planes, calls, IM, email etc.  I have loved my time out here and plan on staying for the next little while at least. 

Honestly, the fact of the matter is that Gretchen and I can talk until the day is long about how wonderful we think it is out here, but at the end of that day the decision is yours.  And it is an intensely personal decision for you to make by yourself or with your family.  However, I think it is one you will want to consider before you embark on any job search.  If this job requires relocation – are you willing to go?

Just a thought...

Zoë

I can't say this site is new, but it is new to me!  Check out Microsoft's Design Site.  We found this perusing the web the other day and had to share given our passion around revamping our own career site.  It's pretty cool to see the product designers using their skills to develop a site that is targeted towards their audience.  They have a lot of great information there about their people and career opportunities.  For those of you interested in design opportunities, this is definitely a great place to get started!

Take care,

zoe

Yesterday Scoble blogged about the need for developers in the US.  His blog gets far more readership then ours, so I won't begrudge him the fact that we have posted many times here on the Microsoft Jobs Blog about our need to hire talented developers.  :)  So just to reiterate - yes we are still hiring.  The simple fact is that we are always on the search for great talent for the technical positions we have open at Microsoft.  The reality is that it is tough to find good talent when trying to deal with issues such as relocation, job content and just simply finding the "right match".

although, we've said it before, I'll say it again.  We currently have about 4,300 open positions at Microsoft across all groups and disciplines.  Roughly 1,500 of those are what we would consider industry product development positions (SDE, SDET, STE, PM).  Of these 1,500 openings, 95% of them are at corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA.  We offer an awesome relocation package and I would be happy to share with you my own relocation story.  I made the trip all the way from Cleveland - a long way away from home these days!

Gretchen and I are committed to getting through as many of the new folks applying as possible as well as looking into how to improve the application process.  No system is perfect and we are also hampered by factors that are out of out control such as visa caps.  If you are a regular reader, you know that we have strong feelings in all of these areas.  Though  it isn't our main job, we hope our influence and the feedback you have already given us will go a long way.

Bottom line - we have openings for software engineers that we are looking to fill in the US - 1,500 of them!  So if you have already applied - thank you and keep the faith while we try to find a match for you in the company.  If you haven't applied yet - what are you waiting for!?

Zoe

Ah - there's nothing like being around smart people to get your creative juices flowing!  Gretchen and I are on assignment at the TopCoder Open these past few days and have been flush with new ideas.  It seems like every time we talk one of us says: "Hey, I just thought of this new idea?  What do you think of it?" 

Why is this a big deal?  Well, a few weeks ago our manager threw down a challenge to us to get more creative.  Interestingly enough I don’t know if he knew it at that time.  Either that or he is learned some interesting management techniques.  Anyway, it erked me at first because I was like - what about the blog and some of the other things that we have been doing?!  Then I realized that he was probably right, we needed to start thinking of some better ways of attracting the audience we are looking for to fill our positions.  Not one to back down from a challenge - I took the bull by the horns.  Unfortunately, brute force doesn't seem to work in these situations.

Gretchen and I did our usual brainstorming sessions, but we were having a hard time coming up with good ideas.  We would meet and talk, but invariably we would veer off on some topic that wasn't really productive.  Then we'd end up leaving the room without having accomplished anything.  I also think that we would psych ourselves out of the ideas before we even got a chance to talk them through.  The funny thing is I can't even credit myself with thinking up that last sentence - that was all Josh via Gretchen.  UGH!  Is it possible to get thinkers block?  I'm a believer.

So Gretchen and I are completely frustrated and feeling like the magic is gone.  Are we ever gonna think of new ideas again?  Then we get to TopCoder - a pretty amazing experience in and of itself - and it's like we can't stop talking about new ways to do this or that.  Slight spins on old things we have done before.  New things we haven’t tried.  Now we have a laundry list of ideas and we are ready to take them on.

Could it be all the smart mojo is rubbing off on us?  Or can we credit being isolated out of the office with nothing to do but think?  Either way I have to say we've come up with some zingers the past few days and we are excited to get back to the office to start working on them.

Okay - so I know I haven't given any clues to these "ideas" I talk of, but we can't spill the beans just yet.  I imagine that we will have some posts go up as we are finalizing our thoughts and introducing them on the blog.  For now, consider it a teaser.

I have to get back to the competition, but I had to write about this before I psyched myself out of the post. 

Zoe from Santa Clara, CA

p.s. TopCoder has been great and either Gretchen or I will be telling you about it soon!

Wednesday was the day that things were not meant to go my way.  I was supposed to get caught up yesterday.  I was supposed to write the post about my trip.  I was supposed to take my cat to the vet.  None of these things happened.  Why?  It's all my cat's fault.  Here's the story:  

Lately, my cat Nikki has been turning into the Tasmanian Devil (and not the cute Warner Bros. cartoon one!) every time I try to pick her up and also is being super aggressive.  She is usually the most loving and docile cat and has never behaved this way before.  This all started a little before we left on our trip and has gotten worse since we have been back.  So I am worried and make an appointment for her to go to the vet.  Given all this what due I do?  Yep, I try to pick her up to put her in her carrier to go to the vet.  Can you guess what her her response was boys and girls?  Yep - you got that one too.  She put up a big old fight.  Unfortunately, this time there was a casualty - me!  She clamped down on my hand and hit a vein in my palm and then proceed to urinate all over me.  So there I am standing in the middle of the room covered in cat pee, bleeding, and crying.  Great picture, huh?  Anyway, I ended up going to the doctor last night because apparently cat bites can become infected very quickly.  I'm on antibiotics and that cat is hiding somewhere so I am left in pieces (ha. ha.) to write my post.

First, big thanks again to everyone who sent ideas about where to go and what to do.  This really helped us to figure out what we wanted to do and see while we were in England, Scotland and Ireland.  This post could end up being the epic read of a lifetime so instead I thought I'd treat you to some highlights and pictures.  We had an amazing time and I would really recommend a trip like this to anyone.  So here goes:

Best things about England:

• York - I loved this town.  The people were friendly, there were cool things to see and great places to eat.
• Tate Modern Museum in London.  My favorite work was called Scrapheap Services.
• Tour of Clerkenwell in London given by Olwen Rowlands.  She is a Blue Badge Guide and gave one of the best tours.  Plus we got to stop for a beer!
• Getting time to relax in Birmingham with Evan's family.
• Seeing Macbeth done by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• The London Eye - commanding view of the Thames, Big Ben, Parliament and nearly all of London. 

Best things about Scotland:

• The sausages and mash that I had at The Kenilwirth Pub in Edinburgh.  It was the best meal I had the whole trip.
• Scottish accent - oooh, dreamy.
• The highland cow (or coo if you will).  These are the cutest cows in the world.  I love their shaggy heads.
• Ghost tour!  Very cheesy, but a good laugh, presented well and I even was scared a few times. 

Best things about Ireland:

• Live folk music in the pubs
• The picturesque coastal views, green valleys and craggy rocks.
• Dingle - wonderful small town and great place to relax.  They even have a real live dolphin called Fungie!
• The proprietor of the Butler Court B&B in Kilkenny.  Yvonne Dalton gave us the warmest welcome we had ever received anywhere.
• Kissing the Blarney Stone.  Note the grumpy old man lowering me over the 100 ft drop in the picture below.
• Mmmmm...Guinness.  I don't drink it in the US, but it tastes different in Ireland.  I had many pints :) 

Again I could go on and on, but simply put this was the best vacation I have ever had!!  Here are just a few of the photos from the trip.

London Eye - Big Ben and Parliament are right behind us.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Dingle Peninsula - what can I say?

And here is one of Nikki for good measure:

What's the biggest fear when coming back to work after a month-long vacation?  Statements like this from your coworkers posted on the blog: "… but Zoë has no idea about the fun she’s in for when she returns from vacation. :)"  Thanks Gret!!

Seriously, my biggest concern was that when I asked how things went they would say: "Awesome! Things ran really smoothly while you were gone and in fact, we decided that we don't really need you anymore."   I am not trying to be self-centered or anything, but I think every employee wants to hear that they were missed and that your office mates are happy to have you back.  Am I right?

Luckily it seems that my mates really missed me while I was gone.  In fact, when I walked through the door at home and started checking the messages on the machine I was genuinely touched to have a message from Gretchen.  What did she say?  "I know it is Monday and your not back until Wednesday, but I am really glad to hear your message on the machine and am looking forward to seeing you at work!"  Ahhh...now that makes me feel wanted.

What makes me feel more wanted and valued?  The icing on the cake?  I received a traditional office trashing upon my return.  Now not anyone receives this honor and it means a lot when your pals care enough to make your office a pig sty before you return.  I am not being sarcastic when I say this - in my five years here this is the first time someone has gone to the lengths my team did in decorating my office to mimic a traditional English pub.  And of course make me feel welcome and missed all at the same time.  There is now a carefully crafted Union Jack displayed in my window, beer and pint glasses, balloons, decorative football (that's European not American) lights, and confetti.  It was lovely when I first saw it and then I stepped into the room and - CRUNCH! - proceeded to step on about a billion peanuts (real, not styrofoam) scattered about the office.  They helped me clean most of them up off the floor with me, but I am still finding them in off places like my tissue box, cabinets and shelves.  I can imagine that I will be finding them for months to come!

Brings a tear to my eye :)  I really want to give a big thanks to Gretchen and the rest of my team for making it so easy to come back to work.  Though my office seems a little messy, it actually took some of the stress off of coming back to work.  Not to mention all the extra work they took on while I was gone!

Anyway I am back trying to make it through all my email and slowly catching up with the happenings around here.  I do want to tell you all a little more about my trip and will get to that post a little later. 

TTFN,

Zoe