Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

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re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

jbs — Tue, 16 May 2006 22:52:01 GMT

Don't listen to the fashion police... the shirt rocks Neil! Only thing that could make it better is if you had a Jethro Tull T-shirt underneath it... just personal preference, some may prefer Rush, but not enough flute for my taste!

T1 REPRESENT!!!

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

HeatherLeigh — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 02:32:17 GMT

Shishi, I don't agree with you but we are all certainly entitled to our own opinions. Though I've got to ask why you would stay at a company for 5 years of you felt that way.

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

Shishi — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:01:27 GMT

I worked at MS for 5 years, and ARGH's comments-- outside of being personally insulting to Neil, which just isn't nice--otherwise pretty directly hit their mark. Internally, MS is a confused organization, trying to meander its way toward making life better for people (ie, "companies") while in reality creating so-so products that isolate and divide people and cultures. I've seen it first hand.

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 05:48:49 GMT

Thanks Paul. You know when I asked Neil for permission to post this, I should have warned him about the trolls. Anyway, your thoughtful posts always make up for the bad stuff!

I have to say, that I rarely come across people like Argh here (I still don't believe he works here bc anyone here would know the diff between corporate marketing and MS Research; they are so different….one is full of technical people one is full of marketing people). Maybe I don’t come across that type of person often because I don’t really like to listen to idle complaining (trust me, I complain plenty and it’s always followed by “so this is what I want to do” or “so this is why I am asking for x” or “and that’s why we should make this change”). If I hear idle complaining, I ask what they are doing about it (or, “have you talked to your manager about this if it’s bothering you?”). If they aren't willing to take a stand on an issue, then the question is "then why are you here?" (sorry, I take pride in working here and it never crossed my mind that I couldn’t change the world here…or at least the Staffing world). I mean, if something is not working for you, why stay and suffer (and in the case of the complainers, make others around you suffer as well)? It’s just not smart.

This isn’t a Microsoft thing. There are complainers everywhere. My last job, the lady who sat across from me used to complain and get so fired up she would start to shake but she would never do anything about it (maybe it was because of no free soda, cube farm, no parking, insurance premiums and limited career path ; )). Why put yourself though that? Here, I think it's a unique situation because we forget how good we have it. For example, with the benefits, I think about people complaining about the fact that there's a co-pay if they choose a name brand prescription drug when a generic is available (and by the way, as a shareholder, yay for that rule!). I think back to previous jobs where I was making co-payments left and right. I have not paid one cent for any medical care in 6.5 years. I think we kind of get lulled into the sense of "this is how it is" and it's just not true at other companies. Most of us here know that.

I love the fact that people like Neil come to work excited to do their job(s). Some unhappy people may find Neil's enthusiasm foreign but that's says more about them than it does someone like Neil. I happen to get jazzed by the idea of coming to work every day. I'm sorry everyone doesn't get to feel that way. If they don't they should do something about it. I mean, something besides blog trolling.

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

Paul — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 03:58:28 GMT

Folks like Argh are unfortunately very common in tech companies. They have a knack for sucking enthusiasm out of all those around them and contributing little in compensatory value.

He (I'm pretty certain it's a he - women rarely exhibit these character flaws) could be a Microsoftie, or he could be an outsider, but it doesn't matter. He is stereotypically insecure in his technical superiority, and feels the need to lord it over all those around him.

I suspect he is a person of considerable intellect, and my suggestion is that he should look inward. We all have the power to be constructive, but it requires a lot more effort and brainpower than being destructive. Argh, if you truly are as smart as you think you are, apply yourself to helping people to improve, fixing problems, and building morale rather than tearing it down. You'll find it much more rewarding.

Kudos to Neil for being willing to put his character out there for the world to see, and sharing his experiences. It's tough to expose yourself to inevitable criticism. In a world of givers and takers, Neil appears to be a giver.

Heather, thanks for putting this story on your blog. You don't deserve ARGH's spleen.

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:21:36 GMT

CerebralNetizen- right on!

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

CerebralNetizen — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:15:54 GMT

ARGH's comments are not surprising at all. Some people read controversial stories about a company in magazines, and then try to paint every employee in that company in the same color. I find the following comment particularly interesting:

"From MSR (aka, how to deliver half-finished, purely academic "solutions" which only add more process and bureaucracy?) Check."

It is amusing especially because Neil specifically said, "We can turn the crank and do regular marketing stuff from a textbook and achieve so-so results, but to really do outstanding marketing you have to be willing to take good chances."

Finally, just because someone does not have a blog does not mean that person is incompetent. Some people just don't have the time. There are several other avenues for collecting reliable market information. The world does not lack immature pessimists and ARGH is just one of them.

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

HeatherLeigh — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 20:45:14 GMT

I guarantee that ARGH doens't know Neil. He's taking out his own angst on seomeone else because they are happy (are you kidding me right now with that shirt comment?).Incidently, the anonymous ARGH doesn't realize that research in corporate marketing is not MSR and that the central marketing team is not a business group. The most fascinating thing is that ARGH disses Neil for not having a blog, yet ARGH doesn't link to one himself. ARGH's comment bile really does not lend to any kind of credible discussion.

Saved!- don't hold one anonymous post against us. There are people like this everywhere (I guarantee, there are people like this in your current company). I don't have any proof that ARGH is an actual MS employee (frankly, he seems too uninformed...he could have looked Neil up in the address book and realized he didn't work in MSR). My guess, anonymous, non-MS with some kind of axe to grind. Shall we guess where they actually work?

re: Marketing@Microsoft Employee Careerpath Profiles: Neil Shah

Saved! — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:25:20 GMT

It is very disheartening to see someone take their colleagues inventory publicly. It is an employee like Neil that makes Microsoft a great company! He is a winner because he is proud of his job and wants to develop into a great leader.

I have recently interviewed for a position at Microsoft believing that I would be working among men and women who supported each other in a way that would allow them to develop the creative and innovative software that Microsoft is famous for creating. After reading your post and other MS employee blogs I really don't think that it is a place that I want to be a part of...if you are blasting each other online, God only knows what is going on each day on campus. Thanks for helping me make my decision!