Recruiting Trip

It was a very hectic week for me. I had been on one of the recruiting trips to a school on east coast. Other than the rough schedule, I learnt a lot of how things work and also made me remember where I came from and how I used to think just 3 years ago.

To start with I would like to encourage students - both graduate and under-graduate to start following the technology industry and this is where I think I missed out. No one explained to me the importance of understanding the trends in here and how important it is to be opinionated since early age. A simple question like name your favourite S/W product made students think hard is not a good sign. If I had to advice the students, it is OK if you get grades a notch below in your course work, but make sure you start understanding this industry and knowing where your niche lies.

Other thing is, students apply for the PM position looking at its cool title 'Program Manager', but the title is far away from the truth. PM at Microsoft is a unique position where you are responsible for a feature, but in the end none of the feature Devs or Test is answerable to you. There is no coolness of the manager name in it. If anything it is one of the most hated and misconstrued positions in Microsoft. This blog from Steven Sinofsky I think is a great one which goes lengths to explain the position and its responsibilities. So if you think you have it in you, we are hiring!!!

Thanks,

Kushal.