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Choosing Microsoft: Interview Mbwana, Stanford ‘07Mbwana talks about his decision process and first months at Microsoft
When you first arrived at Stanford, did you think that you would come to Microsoft? No, I initially thought I wanted to do management consulting and I was intrigued by finance jobs. I thought that having done software development, systems engineering, project management in the aerospace technology field that I was done with technology for good.
What changed? This all changed when I got to better know my classmates who had worked in the consulting arena and I quickly realized three things: 1) The work life balance wasn’t for me 2) I was not particularly motivated to work on projects other than ones that involved technology. 3) I was still excited by the technology space, in particular software and the web, areas in which Silicon Valley is great to get immersed in. I was particularly intrigued by the speed at which the industry evolved and changed and how different business models were being challenged- this is very different to the aerospace technology field I worked in.
After your summer internship, did you look into other opportunities? I did. I honed in on some technology opportunities, including other big companies in the Valley. I also became really interested in startups. I also interviewed with consulting firms that had a more technology focused expertise and one asset management firm all based in San Francisco/Bay area.
Why did you decide on MS? I evaluated a nunmber of areas and Microsoft came out on top of the list for these core reasons: 1) Broadest scope of technology to work on and ability to move around by function and product group. 2) Strong respect and support for MBAs, particularly in marketing, that is unique in the industry I found that other competitors talked a great game, but was skeptical about their delivery. 3) Good training ground and opportunities in the future available in technology but also in non-profit sector and other technology careers (still being on the west coast).
Or as I described in my blog (http://mbwana.blogspot.com) at the time: - I am passionate and have always loved technology- and the opportunity to marry this up with business in an organization that is more balanced in engineering vs marketing.
How are you adjusting a few months in? My on boarding has been smoother than I expected- I could sense that Microsoft have put in a big effort in this area both at the corporate, divisional and MBA new hire level (marketing training & boot camp)- its actually almost over-whelming that at times you just want to get on with your job! I have all the resources I need, I have my old network, mentors and support from my internship days last year. I am happy with the role I have been giving- core product management responsibilities for Excel and Access in Office Enterprise with some competitive intelligence work.
On the personal side- I have found a great apartment in the perfect location (MS have greatly assisted here with rental search and corporate accommodation). I’ve been able to get in some hiking as well. I have also been able to connect with one non-profit organization operating in Tanzania but based in Seattle and I also attended a talk by the president of Zambia sponsored by Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These may sound like odd things for me to get excited about- but they are not, when one is 1000s of miles away from home, a sense of guilt creeps up on you that you are not giving back to your own community set this straight. I am thrilled that I can get involved in areas close to home whilst pursuing my passion for working in technology.
What would you tell Second years now? Think about your career as a series of options that allow you to progress, and don’t forget to include your work-life balance and passions (e.g. scope community work)- these can make a huge difference in your over-all job satisfaction.
What do you hope to accomplish in your first few years at Microsoft? next year?
I want to focus on being a world class marketer of technology and basically “fill in the pieces” of my technology career to date and eventually advance to the next stage of becoming a great general manager. I’d like to have built up at least 2-3 areas of expertise in a marketing core role. I would like to have the opportunity to focus on sales, and hopefully be in a field position based in China, Europe, Middle East or Africa (EMEA). In my observations both at business school and within the technology arena- the truly great leaders in the technology field are those who have experienced what it’s like to sell products. This will form the foundation for me to move up in running my own P&L at Microsoft or to other great opportunities in the future.
On the community front, I want to stay connected and engaged to Tanzania and the rest of Sub-saharan Africa by contributing to non-profits that focus in the Seattle area, from chronic health to poverty reduction. Maybe even tap in and leverage some giving campaigns at Microsoft (last year over $70 million was raised) to fund great projects in this area. In addition, I hope to improve my snowboarding skills and continue to do a lot of great hiking and outdoor pursuits.
MIT rocks HALO (and HBS)John Harvard Statue as Master Chief With the launch of Halo yesterday, this is the best prank I have seen yet... brilliant.
MIT The Tech: Master Chief with helmet, rifle and Beaver Emblem in Harvard Yard City Offices and WiFi BusesImproving Work-Life Balance At the company meeting last week, it was announced that MS is opening offices in Downtown Seattle as well as starting a Free WiFi enabled shuttle system for employees in 5 different areas of greater Seattle. While MS has always paid for the employees to take the city buses, having MS only buses and office space downtown is a welcome change. Since I work most of the time from home or on the road, it is almost enough to make me want an office at work again. Since most of the MBA's live along the routes in Queen Anne, Belltown or Cap Hill, it hopefully will make a difference for them and the environment. Now, if only Taco Bell would be served on campus... Eugene, Wharton 08: A bit about my product management summer at MicrosoftStraight talk from a 2007 intern I ended up in Seattle this summer, interning as a product manager with Microsoft. My product was an edition of SQL Server, but first I'd like to talk a bit about the MBA internship opportunity at Microsoft. Everything I was told by the second years last year about it being a fun and event filled experience turned out to be completely accurate and true. SPEAKERS: Every week we had a number of top executives from around the company speak to us about their experiences at Microsoft and outside the company. There were 60 of us (as opposed to 1,000+ "technology" interns in Redmond) and the general structure of these meetings was a brief 15-20 minute introduction talk by the speaker in the beginning and then an hour long Q&A session. Some of the best speakers that I remember were Chris Capossela, Steve Ballmer, and Jay Allard. There were about 20 or so speakers total. INTERNAL OUTREACH: As an MBA intern, I would not hesitate to reach out to school alums or to even the executive speakers. Most people I reached out to were very receptive and were willing to grab lunch or coffee with me, or a group of interns. I arranged about 10 sessions outside the main intern activities, and it was a great way to explore other parts of the company. I heard some other interns arranged a lot more of these sessions….but I really enjoyed my group and my work, so did not have as much incentive to go exploring. ORGANIZATION SIZE: MS Redmond has many many Microsoft buildings, but the feel is still fairly small, since the groups tend to be based together and are not very large. But, the interesting aspect of it is that you may find some random people you lost touch with in the past. For example, I found a couple of old friends from undergrad, as well as a guy I knew from high school in Richmond, VA! It's a small world, but if you also put 30k of techies together in one place…chances are you might meet someone you knew before. FOOD: Besides a great time, it also meant free lunch, since each speaker picked up the tab for whatever was catered to the meeting. Not as nice Google's amazing food, but still a nice touch. Speaking of food, the cafeteria's are actually quite impressive and had a surprising variety. I still tended to stick to sandwiches, but they had ingredients like fresh avocado and all kinds of pastes (tomato basil, pesto, hummus, etc.), and cheeses that I don't normally see at delis. There were also ethnic cuisine's such as Indian, Pho, sushi, etc. SOCIAL EVENTS: Anyway, back to the internship. Beyond the speakers we also enjoyed a number of planned events that showed us Seattle in the best light. These including kayaking, going to the tallest building in Seattle, dinners, happy hours and a stint at a local bar "casino" where we played for fake money, but still had a lot of fun. The recruiting staff put a lot of time and effort into making sure that our summers were enjoyable, and it really showed. We also went to a couple of Mariners baseball games at Safeco field. Both times we hung out at the MSFT luxury box, and it's a completely different way to watch a baseball game! Additionally, there were countless raffles for all kinds of prizes including X-box 360s, trips and restaurant certificates….of course I didn't win anything, but there were probably around 50-60 prizes throughout the summer. NIGHTLIFE: As far as nightlife, Seattle has a lot to offer in this category from dive bars, to lounges, to dance clubs to afterhours places open till 4 or later (though unfortunately no drinks after 2). So overall, from the social perspective, the internship was a lot of fun. I would however also mention that you would need to explore the city on your own or with a couple of friends and not depend on the intern class to necessary organize social events as a group. I would not say that the intern class hung out a huge amount together, though there were times we came together outside Microsoft. This apparently differed from the previous two years, when the interns threw a bunch of parties for themselves and went out a lot, but I would say play it by ear as intern classes vary from year to year. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: The corporate housing at Harbor Steps was quite impressive and affordable. This was especially good since I did not sublet my place during the summer and was hurting. The apartments are well furnished and are located in the heart of Seattle. There at least three large nightlife areas nearby and it is also right next to the famous Pike's market where you can get all kinds of produce (if you cook) or grab a bite to eat at a number of great places. There is an option to stay closer to work in Redmond, but very few people take it and I don't recommend it. COMMUTE: The commute is not that painful, especially if you can get a carpool together of 3 or more people. It's about 25-30 minutes to Redmond and about 35-45 minutes to get back with 3, but could take an hour or more if you don't have the use of the 3+ carpool lane. The carpool was also great because I got to know some of the interns much better who I otherwise may not have spent much time with. Some of the discussions we had in our car were really cool and informative. I actually feel like I learned a lot each time. During the carpool people also generally discussed their projects, which provided me with valuable insight into other areas of the company – a very cool thing especially if you had no clue one area could have been so much fun or another so boring. INTERNSHIP PROJECT DETAILS: Well, I think that about sums up the social aspects of my internship and now I will move on to my responsibilities. While I will not discuss my project in much detail, I would say that I received an impressive amount of responsibility from my team and the test was significant and impacted the overall SQL Server product. The entire team was very open and receptive to me. They worked hard to ramp me up and help me understand the business. I learned a ton during the summer regarding product management, specifically about positioning and messaging. WORK LIFE BALANCE: My days usually lasted from 8:15am to 6pm, but I did at times do a bit of work from home or on weekends. This was however my decision and not something that I felt obligated to do. The work life balance within my group also seemed to be good. The flexibility was impressive – as some came in at 7, while others at 10. Everyone was pretty much gone by 7pm, though judging by email threads, some continued to work from home into the evening. Kick-off: Packers vs. EaglesFAVRE: Six more touchdowns So... a lot of Wharton MBA's are giving me grief and looking forward to this Sunday at Lambeau field. Should the Eagles win, it will be the fifth season in a row, including a playoff victory in the 2003 season. That hurts. With Ahman Green gone, it hurts even more. Still, I have faith in Brett and if he can connect with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, there is hope! If only the Packer Defense can shut down McNabb and Westbrook - stranger things have happened at Lambeau...drinks on me in Philly if GB wins... Music and the end of Summer: BumbershootSummer in the SEA
The end of summer in Seattle typically means interns leaving, FT MBA's arriving and music festivals. Whether you drive up to the Gorge for the annual 3 day DMB uberfest or stay in the city and attend our annual music festival called Bumbershoot, it is hard to escape live music. New MBA's enjoyed the likes of the Shins, The Damnwells, Kanye West, Gym Class Heroes, John Legend, Kings of Leon, Stars of Track and Field, Wu-Tang Clan and the Frames. Unexpected guests like local Eddie Vedder showed up on stage along with Crowded House and plenty of small and large stages showcased the rest of the 75+ bands. Glen Hansard and random girl from the audience singing Falling Slowly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHr6roFgi6Q&mode=related&search Hiking Around the SoundBright summer days in the Mountains Interns found plenty of time to get out into the mountains this summer. Many climbed up to Base Camp at Mount Rainier, some headed east into the Cascades while others backpacked around the Olympics. Melanie, Wharton Spouse, writes about the day hikes close to Seattle:
The website www.wta.org (Washington Trail Association) is an excellent resource. The website has a very handy trail report blog online, so you can check the condition of the trail you want to hike that day. Also very helpful is the Moon brand Seattle hiking guide (avail at any bookstore). Be sure to hit the road before 10am...the trails get very crowded around noon and any good trail is at least an hour drive away. The first thing you should do is purchase a Northwest Forest Parking Pass so you can park at the trailheads without getting towed. :-) Our favorite hikes close to the city were:
2nd Annual MS MBA soccer match: 12-1?Must be the nightly partying…. 12-1 Alums
The Alums did it again, but not without a valiant effort by the intern class and their cheering section (aka the “beering” section) on a sunny afternoon on the soccer fields.
David, an MIT intern said it best:
I guess it will be up to the intern class of 2008 to prevent the alumni hat trick….resumes citing FIFA experience encouraged to apply…. Seattle MBAs Give backSeattle Interns helping the environment (along with Reno 911) After a too-late Friday night and on a too-early Saturday morning, over 50 intern MBAs from Amazon, T-mobile, Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft made it to Golden Gardens Park on the Sound to help clear the wetlands and make the area more hospitable for the native plants, animals, etc. The interns spent most of the morning removing invasive weeds and debris that were wrecking havoc on the parks ecosystem and helped support a terrific non-profit organization, Seattle Works, in the process. The day wrapped up with a big BBQ on the beach and the raffle of 2 all expense paid trips for 2 to New York to see the MSN sponsored Live Earth - Concerts for a Climate in Crisis occurring on 7/7/07. While helping the environment was the highlight of the day, some interns would claim that the impromtu Reno 911 model's sand castle exercize** was a close second...and no, for the record, we had no idea that they would be there at the same time promoting their new movie. **(as if I have to write this) Not an official MS sponsored event A new intern classWelcome Intern class of 2008! A lot can happen when you ignore your blogging responsibilities due to conferences (HBS, UVA, Kellogg, Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley) and vacations….your company makes multi-billion dollar acquisitions, MBAs graduate (along with your Chairman) and a whole new intern class arrives. While it was bittersweet to see so many friends and former interns graduate this spring, it is always fun to anticipate the arrival of a crazy and sharp intern class. The stories are already starting and so has the partying, but you will have to read their intern blogs and see their page in facebook to find out about them. With interns from all over the country and abroad, we hope that we deliver on a best in class intern experience for all of you and make this a summer to remember.
Ray Ozzie interview - Knowledge @ Wharton Ray Ozzie on Innovation, Software as a Service and MS’s future
For those who don’t subscribe to Knowledge @ Wharton, here is an excellent interview given with Microsoft Chief Technical Officer, Ray Ozzie. Student comments included. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1698 Steve visits his Alma Mater, Stanford"A View from the Top" Speaker Series at Stanford Addressing a packed room of students and reporters in mid March, Steve and Dean Joss joked about everything Steve missed in his second year of business school ("how to be a CEO") to what great companies do very well to our growth strategies and those of our competitors (see video clip -zdnet). The atmosphere was humerous and serious, with student questions around new business models, developing people and the trade-off's Steve has made in his career. Afterward, Steve had lunch with 15 students and then headed down to the SVC campus to continue meeting with the venture community. Details of Steve's remarks and the discussion below, courtesy of Eweek and Stanford GSB. http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2_2-6167775.html?tag=nl.e622 Music Scene in Downtown SeattleLIVE MUSIC …and crutches don’t go together. Within the last two weeks, I have been to the following concerts (or reluctantly gave away my tickets for obvious reasons)…. The Frames, Air, Modest Mouse, Cowboy Junkies, Junior Boys and DJ Mark Farina. All were playing at venues within walking distance of downtown where the interns stay for the summer. Summer line ups are just starting to post. Venues are small – some are focused on a specific music genre – get tickets early. http://www.neumos.com/calendar.html Your Blog - Help or harm you?I don’t skim your blogs….response to WSJ Today there was an article in the WSJ Career Journal on “Tips for making your blog recruiter friendly” and “How scanning blogs is changing the recruiting landscape.” While headhunters and other recruiters do do this I haven’t started this practice. While I do read some of your blogs (particularly if they are good in a marketing or tech sense) I do not actively seek them out simply because you are a candidate. Most importantly, I do not use them as a tool to screen you out, regardless of content. I suppose I haven’t because I think you are entitled to your personal life outside of work. And while these two areas are continuing to blur, I still think that that there is something sacred in that. I also think that to date, our vetting efforts have done a pretty good job at establishing and attracting the sort of people to our company that we want to have here. In the final analysis, I leave it more to my personal relationships and trust those of your professors and my interviewers to be able to ascertain the type of person you are and whether we think you will be an asset to the company regardless of whether you have spring break photos on your website or are proselytizing about your political views. (For that matter, the reverse argument is almost more dangerous – for those who don’t have a blog, why? What are they hiding? Very slippery slope…) That said, I do see some advantages to doing a search on candidates but I doubt I would really do it unless it came down to two candidates and we were really hurting to get more info that would sway us one way or another. Even then, I still wonder to what extent you would have to go to (even bashing MS is something we value if we feel it is a logical and rational argument) for us to deep 6 you based on that. For the record, I assume you have photos somewhere – on a blog or not – of you getting trashed at some wild party dressed in inappropriate attire with companions your mom wouldn’t approve of --- you are MBAs after all. WSJ article: http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/usingnet/20070410-needleman.html?mod=RSS_Career_Journal&cjrss=frontpage Note: I do think that your blog will have more impact on your hiring ability after you are out of school –for industry recruiters, they are a vital search tool to source on and in this instance, what you write and portray will carry more weight as they have less data to go on. DiversityDiversity and Inclusion at Microsoft Our diversity and inclusion programs at Microsoft have both an external and internal focus. Externally, we work with civil rights organizations, education institutions and community groups. Internally, we focus on attracting a diverse workforce of which the MBA community plays a significant part. Hiring those students who wish to succeed and innovate and bring their diverse talents, ideas and perspectives to Microsoft to help us market to an ever diverse and growing customer base is paramount to our success. In the last few months there have been important diversity events that have occurred at MS (National Urban League Dinner) and at your schools (Harvard Latino Dinner, Harvard Club NYC). We look forward to being more involved in events like these in the upcoming year. For more information, subscribe to the MS quarterly newsletter below and/or visit the company website. Subscribe to the Quarterly Diversity Newsletter: https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/subscriptionwizard.aspx?wizid=39de6129-3948-4e46-86c6-395f5e05120e&lcid=1033 Microsoft Diversity Website: http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/default.mspx ThanksSorry for not being on mail and the blog! Due to a skiing accident, I have been out of the office and off my blog for the last few weeks. I apologize and thank you for your patience! Things are fine but I am on crutches for the next 4 weeks and won’t be out at schools for awhile. Thanks to all of you who interviewed for internships while I was out and I apologize if I haven’t gotten back to your emails. I hope to do so this week. Congrats on all of your internships both with us and otherwise! Thanks and I hope to see you all soon. Intern Mobile project, and waking up to Mt Rainier every dayOded, Product Manager, Mobile* HBS The 11 weeks of my internship were simply terrific, probably for four main reasons: 1) My group - MED offers a challenging, entrepreneurial and vibrant group to work with, great people and fantastic products. 2) The company - from visiting Bill Gates' estate, talking with Steve Ballmer, to the amazing facilities and resources the company has to offer. Definitely better than anything I saw in the Bay area. 3) The other interns and the recruiting team - had superb time with friends from other top schools, hiking in Seattle's area and going out virtually every night to drink, eat, play squash or watch a movie. 4) Seattle - the summer offers such a perfect weather and the city's bar and restaurant scene is fantastic. 5) The extra - waking up to watch Mt. Rainer from my Harbor Steps apartment on the 18th floor was the best way to open my morning with a smile. My team and project: Product Manager Intern in Windows Mobile Product Management Team The first phase of the project included analysis of past sales performance of Windows Mobile across regions, OEMs and devices. This followed by a further analysis into the reasons behind the 'wins' and 'loses' of current year performance, in order to answer questions such as "Why did device XXX do badly this year, versus device YYY?", etc. Mid-internship conclusions were presented to a wide range of managers in MED Marketing. The analysis included reviewing existing research reports, holding conversation with dozens of managers in the department, meeting managers outside MED and studying dozens of different Windows Mobile and competing devices. The second phase included articulating actionable recommendations in order to address the weaknesses and strengths discovered in the first phase. This included re-analyzing market segmentation studies, additional meetings with division’s managers as well as members from the development team. The deliverable was a second presentation to GMs in MED Marketing and passing on responsibilities for the full-time team members. *Oded will be starting fulltime in our London Office with our Mobile Division. Congrats Oded! BusinessWeek Article about MS internshipGrant Allen, Wharton 2007, writes about his summer experience
Just when I was getting ready to write something about starting off the intern season, BW does it for me. I couldn't have said it better than Grant did.
While we are so looking forward to meeting a new intern class, I must admit we will miss the old. We were lucky to have you all here and to become friends. Thanks for your article Grant and I hope we are able to deliver another "summer camp" experience for the class of '2008.
Search for MS Researcher unites companiesSilicon Valley unites to find a friend to all: James Gray
In the last week, help has poured in from numerous companies, more commonly known as rivals, to help in the search for Microsoft Researcher James Gray who has been missing at Sea. Many friends of Mr. Gray’s at Oracle, Google, and Amazon have come forward offering their technology, time and resources to help in the search.
Gray, winner of the 1998 A.M. Turing Award, "the Nobel Peace Prize for Science,” is best known for helping to develop the research and technology that made ATMs, online shopping, airline reservations and even mapping programs like Google earth and Microsoft’s Virtual Earth possible.
While Gray and his family are all in our prayers, thanks goes out to the community for helping in this tragedy. It is sad yet somehow significant, that a circumstance like this illustrates why we are all part of the tech family. Despite earnings reports, advertising campaigns, Wall Street and pundits, the real reason any of us are in this line of work, is to use technology to help and benefit each other.
VIsta Launch Vista!
You all have heard enough about it and there is nothing I can add to the global discussion that you haven't read already. Not to state the obvious, but, if you are interviewing with us, I recommend being versed in the general business dialogues that are surfacing thanks to coverage in the Economist, Bloomberg, slashdot and any other media outlet you prefer. A lot of MBAS have been involved with this build and launch, and I congratulate them on their success. It is humbling to be a part of something that is so big that will impact millions across the globe. It will be one helluva of a party in NYC this weekend and I apologize in advance to those of you at Kellogg if I am hiding behind sunglasses when I see you sometime Tuesday.... |
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