Ed Dunhill's Blog : Careers @ Microsoft

Lionhead Studios – Now Recruiting!

edunhill — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:29:04 GMT

Lionhead Studios, developer of the Fable and Black and White series are looking to recruit the best and brightest grads with strong C++ skills.

Ideally candidates would have a passion for video games, creative flair as well as considerable C++ experience.

This would be a great opportunity for the right grad – if you think this is the job for you take a look at their website to apply.

Technorati Tags: Graduate Scheme,Recruitment,Students,Jobs,Games,Lionhead,Microsoft Game Studios

Internship Opportunities - Redmond, Seattle

edunhill — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:10:52 GMT

If you're a technical student looking for the opportunity to get some experience and fancy working at Microsoft in the US next summer then this is the opportunity for you.

The bad news - you only have a couple of days left to apply (the deadline is 15th Jan).

There are two types of roles available both of which would be of particular interest to computer science students:

Software Design Engineer

Make decisions on design and feature implementation
Design efficient data structures and algorithms to develop next-generation applications
Work with Program Managers to ensure strong design and Software Design Engineers in Test to ensure quality through testing

Software Design Engineer in Test

Ensure product quality by making sure it performs as users expect it to!
Manipulate and torture software into submission
Create innovative testing technologies
Work with the Program Managers and Software Design Engineers to design, develop, and maintain automation tests for use in development and testing cycles

To apply please email an up to date CV to: InternCV@microsoft.com

Technorati Tags: Recruitment,Jobs,Students,Microsoft,Redmond,Computer Science

Free eLearning for Microsoft Certification

edunhill — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:13:00 GMT

Ever fancied getting some more letters after you name and improving your job prospects when you leave uni? Then Microsoft certification is for you!

We're making a whole bunch of official eLearning content available to students for free through the IT Academy Student Pass programme. These courses will give you everything you need to learn to take a MCP exams and get ready for industry!

~~To sign up you need a unique code to authenticate yourself as a student, if you want one~~ ~~click here to email me~~.

*** UPDATE - You can now get your code directly from DreamSpark (see this post) ***

Once you've got your code you can register here.

For all the details check out the official website.

Technorati Tags: MCP,Microsoft eLearning,IT Academy,Student Pass,Certification

Microsoft Student Partner Application Deadline Extended to 30th June

edunhill — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:29:00 GMT

The Microsoft Student Partner Programme allows the brightest student technology enthusiasts from UK universities the chance to engage with Microsoft to get the most out of our technologies and get some great 'real world' experience on their CVs.

Because we know this time of year is difficult for students with exam periods and coursework deadlines we have extended the application deadline until June 30th. To apply follow the instructions on the official web page.

To find out more about what it means to be an MSP from an MSP's perspective check out this post on Mark Johnston's blog which features interviews with two of this years participants Ben and Stephen.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Student Partners,MSP,Students,Careers

Microsoft Student Partners - Now Recruiting for Academic Year '08

edunhill — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:57:35 GMT

The Microsoft Student Partner is a way for students to affiliate themselves with Microsoft getting the opportunity to represent the company at their university and pick up some cool prizes along the way. Plus it looks great on your CV.

From the MSP site:

"Microsoft Student Partners carry out tasks such as organising guest Microsoft lectures, delivering technical sessions to their peers, conducting student events and giveaways on campus, and a whole lot more to help us deliver more value to universities and build better relationships with lecturers and students alike."

If you're interested in getting involved then click here to find out more and apply.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Student Partners,MSP,Recruiting

Microsoft Gold Partner Would Like to Meet Enthusiastic Technical Grads...

edunhill — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Last week we held our first Imagine Cup event at our offices in Reading. Whilst there I was fortunate enough to have a chat with Steve Cox from CM Group (Content Master). CM create training, e-learning courses, hands on labs, reference applications, conference presentations and books that are published worldwide. They work very closely with Microsoft to create learning materials for our products recently having created the official Microsoft curriculum around Silverlight.

Last year they hired a couple of graduates and it was such a great success that this year they are looking for another 6 grads. The role involves being trained to have a depth knowledge of specific technologies and how to create learning content to support them and then working on real life projects producing content that will be viewed by millions of people. If you are interested and would like to find out more then visit their Web site or email them at Vacancies@contentmaster.com, deadline for applications is the 30th March 2008 to start in the summer.

Technorati Tags: Graduate Recruitment,Microsoft Gold Partner,Content Master,CM Group,Students,Recruitment

Happy new year - now get to work ;)

edunhill — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 01:32:04 GMT

Hopefully like me you've all had a great Christmas but I'm guessing that also like me today was the last day of your holidays :(.

I thought that to kick off the new year I'd remind you about some upcoming deadlines (Aren't I kind!).

Round One of the Imagine Cup Software Design Competition ends on this coming Wednesday (9th Jan) so all of you who are putting together an entry or were planning to now is the time to get your nose to the grindstone and get it in to us ASAP. Click here to find out more and enter.

For those of you who are in your second year with an option to go on placement next year I really would compel you to consider spending some time with us here at Microsoft. A placement with us is a great opportunity to do a role that would normally only be available to those with considerable industry experience and get some great content for your CV. Having done a placement at MSN myself I know the value of the scheme and the doors it opens so please take some time out to click here and apply but be quick about it as the deadline is the 13th Jan.

Finally the deadline for applications for the Graduate scheme is approaching as it is also the 13th Jan. Again this is a great opportunity to land a great job with a company who consider their employees their most valuable asset. There are streams for technical, marketing and sales roles so there's something for nearly everyone. Click here to find out more.

The Inspiration Tour kicks back off with Blackpool a week tomorrow so for the next week myself and Ben will be focusing on adding some new content around XNA V2, Embedded and our student programmes. Also stay tuned for an announcement in the next week or so about an amazing web hosting offer for UK students.

Technorati Tags: Imagine Cup,Recruitment,Placements,Inspiration Tour

XNA Game Studio 2 Released and Entry to Dream-Build-Play 2008 Opens!

edunhill — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:00:41 GMT

Yesterday the much anticipated XNA Game Studio 2.0 launched adding support for all versions of Visual Studio and online multiplayer gaming.

To learn how to get started, install Game Studio 2.0 visit and get some code samples visit http://creators.xna.com/Education/GettingStarted.aspx. All your existing v1 games will still work and any ongoing projects can easily be upgraded.

If you saw my previous post and installed GS 2.0 Beta you will need to uninstall it before installing the new release.

To mark the release of GS 2.0 entries have also opened for Dream-Build-Play 2008. For those of you who have been to an Inspiration Tour session you will of heard me talk about last years competition and show you some of the excellent games that were submitted.

This year the theme is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and you can submit your game from the 20/12/07 through to the deadline on the 27/01/07.

The prizes this year are amazing as always; Five finalist teams will each receive:

An invitation to show your entry at GDC 2008 in San Francisco, CA.
A $3,000 (USD) stipend per team.
A one-year subscription to the XNA Creators Club for each
team member.
An interview for an internship at Microsoft Research,
Lionhead Studios or Rare Ltd in the UK for each team member.

For more information and to register visit the Official Dream-Build-Play website.

Technorati Tags: XNA,Game Studio,Xbox 360,.NET,Dream Build Play,Multiplayer,Visual Studio,Creators Club

Microsoft Inspiration Tour... Coming to a university near you!

edunhill — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:43:38 GMT

We are currently busy preparing to launch a new initiative which will see me and several other members of the academic team touring the UK to deliver technically focused content to students. Each and every university has the opportunity to host one of these sessions so start pestering your lecturers to visit The Inspiration Tour Site and contact Claire Perry to get a date in the diary.

Each session will cover the fundamentals of .NET, show our latest and greatest developer technologies and highlight what opportunities are available for students. For more details click here.

Technorati Tags: Student, Microsoft, Developers, Inspiration Tour

Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship

edunhill — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:54:00 GMT

To follow on from my previous post here about student opportunities at Microsoft, MSR (Microsoft Research) have just opened applications for their PhD scholarship program. The deadline is the 26th September and you can find full details here.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Research, PhD Scholarship, Students, Academic, Computer Science

Student Careers @ Microsoft

edunhill — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:42:00 GMT

A short while ago I received an email from a student at Lancaster University asking for information about careers for students at Microsoft. It occurred to me that there is no one place where all the opportunities for UK students are listed. Well now there is...

MSP Program - The Microsoft Student Partner program is an excellent way for students to learn about new technologies, talk about them to their peers and get some great technology experience on their CV.
The Imagine Cup - The imagine cup is a group of international competitions for students held by Microsoft the most famous of which is the Software Development Competition. Its a great way to showcase your talents and win some cool stuff along the way and once again it looks great on your CV.
US Summer Placements - Microsoft US offers summer placements to international computer science students at our head office in Redmond. This is a great opportunity to get visibility within Microsoft as well as getting hands on experience working in a large team of developers. Guess what...it looks great on your CV!
UK Internships - Microsoft UK offers internships to students from both business and technical backgrounds. Interns get the opportunity to take on a real role for a year and if successful the chance of returning as a full time employee once graduated.
UK Graduate Scheme - Microsoft UK also offers a graduate scheme with three tracks; Technical, Sales and Marketing. Each track offers grads the opportunity to take on a permanent full time role within the company with tons of training and support. What better way to launch an IT career?

Admittedly the timing of this post is not that great since all of the above programs have now closed entry for this year but bookmark this page and take another look in 6 months time and most should be open for 2008.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, placement, career, graduate, internship, jobs, student