Final week at Microsoft. Actually just one more day and I have to give up the blue badge. I don't think I'll miss the "t-" in front of my email alias though. :)
It's been a great summer for a lot of reasons. I had my final scheduled coffee break and my final scheduled lunch...actually tomorrow's may need to be ad hoc considering it is the final day.
Went to Dragonfish tonight with some friends - one of the better Prime card restaurants. Returning tomorrow for a final dinner with co-workers before I depart on Saturday.
Looking forward to a quick trip back to Goshen spend some catching up time with the family and also enjoy a change of pace, hopefully some coffeeshop or just coffee time with the laptop getting caught up on scheduling and plans for LEAD and the first quarter.
Oh and results of RBS come out tomorrow.
I had some recent questions about MBAs at Microsoft, so I thought I'd share my response (tweaked slightly for public consumption). [Do I need a disclaimer here? If it's not obvious, all comments are my own and do not reflect Microsoft policies.] :) Also, feel free to check out the official Microsoft MBA site.
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MS wants MBAs across the organization (many MBAs are already there
in fairly high levels) in many business functions including corporate,
finance, marketing, etc.
Marketing Roles
- Product Planner - 18-24 month timeframe planning around a version or
two out of what will be released within 12 months
- Product Management - marketing focused product activities across all
business groups
Finance Roles
- Finance - various roles within business groups
- Business Development - various activities within business groups
Corporate Roles
- Corporate Planning/Analysis - finance activities at a corporate level
- Corporate Strategy - (usually recruited separately than others) -
internal consulting group
- Corporate Development - (usually recruited separately than others) -
acquisition transaction execution
Product Development
- Not recruited for at MBA programs - this is where the *real* work gets done by CSs and engineers who make the products that make the company
3. Because MBAs are almost always in non development areas (except
Product Planning which is slightly more technical and reports up
through product development) there is no comparison to development (CS
roles). Clearly dev makes the products and BillG has a special place in his heart for development, however SteveB appears more slanted to business side since he was not a coder. Sales is very very important and has a clear respect in the org (SteveB lead the sale org at one point). Most Redmond people haven't sold anything in their lives and to move up in management a stint in the sale org (called "the field") is almost a requirement.
In addition to all this, the summer is an amazing time in Seattle and the internship has many resources allocated to it - lunch speakers are definitely a highlight! Definitely a great experience in its own right.
US News has a nice little overview of BillG's home. The diagram is actually fairly accurate and it has some nice information.
Thanks to Heather's "Marketing and Finance at Microsoft" Blog.
I assume many of you saw the press release on the pricing of the 360. Unfortunately I can't pre-order before I leave. But a fellow intern did in fact win a 360 in a recent raffle...of course he doesn't have it yet, but it'll be shipped to him on release.
Oh, and I did get to play around with a beta unit a couple days ago. And read some internal docs on it. Pretty nifty stuff - especially the software.
Finally, Robbie Bach spoke at a recent MBA Intern lunch - very solid guy and very cool. He attended the other GSB.
MS Ultimate has been a fun part of the summer. While I don't get home until 8:30 (for the early games) and around 10 for the later games, it's a great way to ward off the summer Seattle eating habits. Generally I've eaten out a lot more than in Chicago, in part because of people visiting and also because of various social dinners with other interns.
Returning to MS Ultimate, summer league is...well, summer league. Some people don't seem to know what Spirit of the Game really means and probably haven't ever read it for that matter. And I being the rather competitive person that I am sometimes (too frequently) won't hesitate to inform people (in ways that unfortunately does not exemplify my Impactful Feedback skills).
Speaking of Impact Feedback, a Senior Corporate VP today (which basically means he runs one of Microsoft's business groups (i.e. only seven or so in the company) said that one of the most difficult skills for managers and executives is providing feedback, both the "positives and negatives." For all of you headed to Chicago GSB be prepared to hear that message, although we call it "plus and delta." :) Also, he noted that the people skills become increasing more important as you move up in an organization and in his org a number of managers have 'peaked' due to the lack of improvement in those areas. Perhaps that can be a gentle example for any incoming first years frustrated with their summer 360 evals, MBTI, CSI, etc. :)
[Edited for dave's enlightened correction.]
I obviously haven't posted as much as I would have liked. However, I have been very busy exploring and enjoying Seattle so I'll try to post some of the older stories. :)
Seattle is amazing in the summer.