First, some information, so we’re all on the same page.  Internal transfers at Microsoft work just like the external hiring process.  We go to an internal version of http://www.microsoft.com/careers/, which has all the same jobs.  We get a couple of pieces of information that folks on the outside don’t get; namely the name of the hiring manager, and the target level of the job.  Level only makes sense once you’re inside the borg, so there’s no reason to show it to external candidates.  I can’t imagine any hiring manager would use the site if they posted their email address on it (can you imagine the spam if they did?).  So, we’re on the same footing already.

In order to transfer positions at MS, you first go to the career site, find jobs that interest you, and then submit a resume (sound familiar?  It’s the same process as external hires).  The only difference is that, as an internal candidate, I can only apply to 5 jobs.  External candidates, as far as I know, can apply to any number of positions.

The hiring manager reviews your resume, and if you seem to have the qualifications they are looking for, they set up what’s called an informational interview.  This is an informal interview, where you and the hiring manager have a chat about the position, the team, and the product.  The goal of this chat is to decide if you are interested in the team (based on culture, product, etc), and if the hiring manager feels like you’re a good fit.  If you both feel like it’s a good fit, then the hiring manager will schedule an interview loop.

Interview loops are hard.  They consist of 3-5 interviews over the course of a single day.  I’ve been on both sides of this process, and it is exhausting.  If you do well in your interviews, the team offers you a position, and you decide if you are going to take it.  As I understand it, the job offer for an internal transfer is much less complicated than an external offer.  There is no salary discussion (you keep your same salary), and you generally don’t have to talk about bonuses, and stuff like that.  Basically, the offer is your last chance to bail out of the process.  You just have to decide if you still like the team, after meeting several of the team members, and getting a better feel for their team culture.

Now that we have a common starting point, I’ll start sharing some of my experiences with the internal transfer process.