Do you ever wonder if all the stories you hear about the “Microsoft interview” are true? Go ahead and type “Microsoft interview” into your search engine...you get a lot of results (definitely including pages from 2 of our most...

My tech recruiting pals Gretchen and Zoe have quite a dialog going on regarding what they like to see on resumes. Some of what I am seeing on their blog applies to marketing resumes, some doesn't. For the most part, a marketing resume is a different animal...

I am a marketing geek and I hope you don't mind that I am writing this is in the first person. I started recruiting finance and accounting professionals in 1994 in Chicago...great city...very cold. After a few years, I realized that things don't change...

My co-worker, Gretchen, posted this information on her blog. Great detail on what happens to your resume when you submit it to Microsoft Staffing. Gretchen and Zoe support technical groups, but the process is basically the same for marketing... .....

Here are some tips I picked up in AIRS RealTools Newsletter today (written by Michael Foster). The article was specifically speaking of resumes you submit as an applicant that get input into a candidate database at a corporation and creating the best...

Yesterday, I wrote about your own personal brand and how to manage that brand in your career search. Today, I want to look at the flip-side of that and share some thoughts on employer or employment branding. Chances are, unless you are in HR or staffing...

Recruiting for marketing, I’ve come to realize that people who know how to market products and services well sometimes don’t know how to market themselves. If we look at your job search as a marketing campaign aimed at a target customer (the...

So I thought I would start off explaining a little bit about what is considered marketing here at Microsoft. I'm not really sure how we came to know a number of business functions as marketing, but it is what it is (or kind of is what it kind of is)....

So last week, I explained a little bit about what makes up “Marketing at Microsoft”; the different kinds of marketing that we do. The functions I describe make up a lot of the marketing roles at Microsoft but I wanted to give you some more...

Google Hacks: 100 Industrial Strength Tips and Tools by Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest The Death of Competition: Leadersip and Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems by James F. Moore 365 Nirvana Here and Now by Josh Baran The EMyth Revisited...

This has come up a bit in comments and also in one-off e-mails I have received from people. Some inquired about career changes I have made and others about how to make a career change in general so thought I would address some of these questions. One...

I'm spending my day posting jobs to MBA Alumni organizations. I was blessed with a HUGE window in my office (it's actually 2 windows) and am disctracted by how unbelievably beautiful it is outside right now. For some reason, this winter seemed longer...

Someone asked me today what our Market Research team looks for in potential employees. I asked the recruiter for Corporate Market Research to give me an update on the hot skills for this group. But first, let me tell you a little bit about the Market...

Over on Zoe's and Gretchen's blog , they are discussing the “Dos and don'ts” of phone interviews (OK, grammar and punctuation police, come and write me a citation for that sentence...I'm waiting for ya!). No need to restate what they have...

Got an e-mail last night from someone (I won't disclose names) who reads this blog and took my recommendation to start a resumeblog . I think he posted his blog about a week ago and already has a phone interview with a company. Over at the Software Product...

I've received a number of questions on different topics and wanted to get some of these answered today. Also want to let you know that these answers are from my personal perspective and while I'm at it, here's my disclaimer. Keep the questions coming...

A few thoughts have come to mind since my last post (and I've heard from some other folks on what you should try to avoid when applying for positions). So a couple more things... -I can't tell you how many times I've received a cover letter that starts...

What do you all think about me pushing out hot marketing job descriptions on a regular basis? Would it be something worth subscribing to? How often would you want to see them? Should I just push out the newest jobs? Let me know what you think. If it's...

OK, technology has finally hit me over the head. I've been talking about blogging for long enough. Now it's time to do it! I've been inspired by my colleagues Gretchen and Zoe , who have just started blogging on technical recruiting at Microsoft. They...

In his article “Professionals, Publishing for the Public ”, David Weinberger says “I don't know that companies have figured out what the role of the outward-facing blogger is. It's too new.” Hmmm, David, we should talk. Not that...

Speaking of branding, here's a Harvard Business School article on reviving old brands.

I hope to provide some information on great resources for technical marketers. In my role as Senior Talent Scout (kind of a talent finding cyber-sleuth), I come across lots of interesting people and sites in my research. One such site is the Software...

So aside from all the marketing talk, I'll try to share a little bit about myself , what I like and what inspires me. So you can see the person behind the blog. “Inspiration” has been a theme for me the past couple of days. I got an e-mail...

Reading a lot of posts from people surprised about how many Microsoft employees blog (and the fact that executive management allows it). Recently, some posts on the idea of recruiters blogging...surprising? Are we crazy? Does it help to know that we...

These postings are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. The content of this site consists of Heather's and other MS employees' own personal opinions and do not officially represent our employer's view in anyway. Included content...