Australian Microsoft Recruitment Web Log : Interview Tips & Tricks

Looking for an Internship?

ausjobblog — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:35:00 GMT

We’ve had a few enquiries about the Microsoft Intern Program so here goes….

Microsoft in Australia hires around 20 interns a year. These positions are available within most areas of the business, such as marketing, licensing, communications, product support, presales support, on-line project management and consulting. Opportunities are mainly based within our Sydney office - there are also some roles in our branches (Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra)

The Intern Program is a 12-month program where we look to develop your skills and experience by getting you deeply involved in a specific business unit. At the end of the 12-month program, we do not guarantee full-time employment with Microsoft, although we do consider our Interns for any suitable opportunities that may arise.

Many of our Interns move into positions with Partners and Customers. This is a great way to broaden your overall industry experience and knowledge.

Good grades are important, but the most important talents we seek from our Intern applicants are genuine passion and curiosity about technology, creative thinking and the desire to work hard alongside some great minds in the industry.

Some Advice…

Pass your HSC and get a degree or diploma (and do it well)
Learn tools and products that make you attractive to businesses immediately
Research your preferred areas of employment and apply in a targeted way
Get some experience (even if it’s unpaid)
Be creative
Differentiate yourself

I look for five key factors when considering applications for intern positions; (in no particular order of importance)

Attitude - Desire to learn – The difference factor – Presentation - Skills

Attitude

What I look for……

A friendly positive attitude

A team player

A hunger/thirst to learn new things

Honesty and ethics

Self-confidence

Breadth of experience

Creativity and original thinking

Relevant skills/qualifications/experience

What makes me say “no hire”

Over confidence (arrogance)

Bad attitude towards managing conflict

“I’m always right!”

“Money is #1 priority”

“I have learnt all I need to know”

Lack of creativity or ability to think BIG

Stronger candidates available

Dishonesty or unethical actions

Inability to say ‘I don’t know’

Poor presentation

Incomplete CV

Desire to learn

Formal and informal learning

Desire to Break & Fix

Willingness to try something new

Hunger to learn from others

Learn the competition

Ability to demonstrate

The difference factor

What makes you so special?

Extra-curricular activities

Sports

Hobbies

Community Service

Awards

2nd Languages

Responsibilities

Passions

Presentation

Telephone – write down what you want to ask

A good clear CV with no spelling errors

Better to be over dressed than too casual

Practice presenting answers at a whiteboard

Good eye contact & communication skills

Skills

Technical Skills….

School and College studies

TAFE

University

MSCE Qualifications (& equivalent)

Self-taught skills

Networking

Web languages

Reading – online subscriptions

Betas & Testing

Competitive Knowledge

Gadgets

Demonstrations & Industry Events

Non-Technical Skills….

Presentation Skills

Debating and Negotiation

Selling Skills

Customer Service

Project Management

Writing Skills

Team working Skills

Planning & Organisation

Competitive Knowledge

Understanding Business & Industry

If your interested in applying for an intern we recruit them at different stages throughout the year so keep an eye on www.microsoft.com/australia/careers and apply on line to be considered.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any further information.

Thanks JJ

Worth a read "How to write your resume (or a section of your resume) from scratch"

ausjobblog — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:07:00 GMT

Heather from Heather's "Marketing at Microsoft" Blog has some great advice on how to write your CV from scratch. It's definitly worth a read. Thanks JJ

Interview with a Microsoft Employee

ausjobblog — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:28:00 GMT

As promised we've spoken to a number of Microsoft employees and here's what they have to say about working at Microsoft.

Luke – Escalation Engineer:

What is your position at Microsoft and what do you do?

“Escalation Engineer in the GTSC. This means senior technical support for Exchange/Outlook/Messaging stuff”

How long have you worked for MS?

Almost 7 years.

Have you held any other roles at MS, what were they?

Just this role.

What does a typical day look like for you?

The days (and nights and weekends) are quieter than a few years ago when we had a burst of new product releases.

Right now, 9 or 10 hours daily spent working on up to a dozen different problems from multiple customers.

A continuous variety of problems in a myriad of areas.

Constantly challenged to explore, understand, and troubleshoot.

I'm surrounded by smart people - yes, they really are - which means I'm stretching all the time to keep up.

Working with the people around me, guiding, suggesting and leveraging the array of skills to ensure we all inter-operate to solve the toughest issues.

Debugging, exploring code, working with colleagues around the globe and learning/researching new/upcoming software.

Immensely satisfying, never ever boring.

What do you like best about your job and working for Microsoft?

Microsoft means never being in a humdrum role.

Whatever position you take, you know you'll be working at something you enjoy, with very good people around you.

In technical support it means hitting the leading-edge constantly, working with the absolutely latest beta and release software and access to an awesome pool of expertise.

What is the coolest thing about working for Microsoft?

For me, the variety. No matter how skilled/specialised you are, there's always something new in the wings.

Challenge and satisfaction.

Jason – Account Technology Specialist

What is your position at Microsoft and what do you do?

Account Technology Specialist - NSW Health.

I have the pleasure of working with a very important customer in the NSW Health Department. It is a very interesting time as NSW Health are undergoing significant changes and it is great to be a part of this. I help NSW Health in a pre-sales capacity understand how our technologies and Partners can help them with the issues they face today.

How long have you worked for MS?

6 ½ Years

Have you held any other roles at MS, what were they?

Yes – Technical Account Manager, Solutions Specialist Desktop, Solutions Specialist Server.

What does a typical day look like for you?

6:30am – Wake up. Brekkie and email from Home.

9:00am – Customer meetings on-site.

1:00pm – Return to office

1:00pm to 5:00pm – Office administration (expenses etc). Customer research for follow-ups, internal meetings and conference calls.

What do you like best about your job and working for Microsoft?

We have a strong portfolio of solutions that we can make a genuine difference and help customers. If a customer has a problem, there will always be a combination of Partners and our Solutions that can help out the customers need.

It is great to be part of a company that has this ability to be able to help across such a wide spectrum of customer issues.

What is the coolest thing about working for Microsoft?

The people and how willing everyone is to help. Not only with work related matters, but also for building my home Windows Media Centre Machine.

Serena – Communications Intern

What is your position at Microsoft and what do you do?

Marketing Communications Intern – Integrated Marketing Communications Team

How long have you worked for MS?

9 months

Have you held any other roles at MS, what were they?

n/a

What does a typical day look like for you?

Always challenging, constantly on the go, never a routine J

What do you like best about your job and working for Microsoft?

The Microsoft people and always developing new sets of skills.

I am developing.

What is the coolest thing about working for Microsoft?

Beings able to complete my university degree and working at the same time J I’m crazy for doing both but I love doing both of them :)

Please let me know if there are any specific parts of the business that you'd like to hear from. Thanks JJ

Experience V's Uni Degree v's Certification - PART 1

ausjobblog — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 22:45:00 GMT

I’ve found that one of the most frequently asked questions as a technical recruiter is how important is experience vs. a uni degree or industry certification.

For me years and quality of experience is what i look for first. If i have several candidates with similar experience a degree or certification can help them to stand out from the crowd.

It's important to remember that your CV gets you the interview once your in here it's all about YOU and that’s the most important thing.

As promised I've asked for some of the managers to comment;

Colin - Managing Consultant - Microsoft "From my perspective, experience is always a higher priority than qualification. The only time I consider qualification is when you have two people with the same experience that you need something to differentiate on. With respect to qualification, we have many people who apply for roles who are qualified to the wazoo who really don’t have the real life experience we need from them to make strong contributions out in the field. Once again though, if you need to differentiate between to similarly experienced people the qualification tells me that the individual has made an effort outside of his immediate job requirements – to some extent it demonstrates commitment and application."

Bill - ANZ Support Team Manager "University degree – if a person has a Uni degree there are two main things that I think about … a) s/he has the discipline to devote themselves to a course of study over a period of time and achieve a result, and b) hopefully the learning process established a solid platform from which to take large strides towards commencing his/her career.

Years of experience – this is a natural follow-on to my comment above … and is the backbone of whether I believe a person is qualified or not. If a person can show sufficient tenure in a similar position to the one being filled, and can clearly articulate how they’ve responded to, and learned from, different experiences, then they strengthen their candidacy.

Industry certification – the value of this element is entirely dependent on the reputation of the industry and the testing body … if, as a hiring manager, I feel the industry’s certification process has a recognized level of formality and rigour, then I’ll place value on a person having industry certification."

In the next couple of weeks I hope to have more responses from my managers, in the mean time I’d love to hear some of your thoughts.

Thanks JB

The perfect CV?

ausjobblog — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 18:24:00 GMT

I don’t know if there is a perfect CV and each recruiter’s idea of a perfect CV will be slightly different. But I can tell you what I like to see.

A good CV is one that clearly shows me how well you are suited to the role that you’re applying for. It’s important that your CV is easy to follow and that you can show me that you meet the requirements of the role.

Some easy tips to follow

Tailor your CV for each role that you apply for
Keep it short and to the point
Look critically at every item you include. If you can't immediately see why it's there, take it out
When your CV is completed check it carefully for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes and then check it again. It’s a good idea to get someone else to read over it for you as well

What you should include

Name and full contact details including mobile and e-mail address
A short career objective or career profile
Education and qualifications
Relevant work experience
Interests, activities and achievements that clearly show skills for the position your applying for

Dont include unless it's been requested

Marital Status
Age
Your photograph
Nationality

How to present your CV

Type or word processing your CV as black text on a white background
Print each page on a separate sheet
Keep it plain. Fancy fonts and decorative borders are more of a distraction than a help
Make it esy to follow by being consistent with headings and fonts

I hope this helps and I welcome any feedback or questions that you may have. Zoë and Gretchen’s site has heaps of great advice regarding CV’s so make sure you have a look.

We have a couple of CV templates on our careers site that you can have a look at as well.

Thanks JB