Tuesday 16th, August 2005
All the Rage. Microsoft Recruiting Lotus Experts....08/16/2005 11:16 AMCategory : None
Location : Columbus, Ohio, USA
Ed
Brill has publically acknowledged
that he was recruited by Microsoft and he has taken exception to the eWeek
coverage by Shelley
Solheim. The fact that
Microsoft is actively recruiting is no secret. That there are successes
is no secret. The failures of their recruiting are very rarely discussed.
I suggest that I am one of those failures... Microsoft approached me through some acquaintances almost a year ago. I was introduced to someone hiring for a field based technical architect in collaboration. This may be different to the "Exchange Ranger" positions Ed and others have discussed. I was to be part of a team of technology experts who could help customers understand how their existing investments (in my case in Lotus stuff) could be enhanced by Microsoft products, particularly by migrating to the newer versions. It sounded good until I got into the interview cycle and ran into some folks who could not understand that there ever could be someone who might not need to immediately implement 100% Microsoft solutions.
So for a couple of months things were quiet and then they contacted me again and said they were interested in learning from my perspective. So they brought me to an interview day in a city that was two hours flight from my home. They put me up in a nice hotel and I went to start the interview at 8:00 am sharp. After the obligatory coffee and greetings, I was put into an interview room (with nice internet access) and told that folks would come by to talk to me during the morning, and that at some point I would be asked to give a presentation to a team. At 11:30 AM they came and asked if I was ready to present, which, as a frequent speaker, I always am. For about 1/2 hour I presented to three people (hiring manager/vp and two others) during which they worked hard to push me off topic and into arguments to see how I reacted and dealt with the pressure. I thought I did reasonably well. After that there was a box lunch (reasonably decent) and the promise that three to five people would be by to talk to me for 15 -30 minutes. About 2:30 someone did stop by and we talked for about 30 minutes. At 4:00 the hiring manager/vp came by and apologized for the lack of organization and sent me to the airport and home. I never heard from them again.
Clearly I was not the right candidate for Microsoft and I am glad that they figured that out, though I have not heard that they filled the Lotus Expert position. I am in a far better place now being at Teamwork Solutions than I could ever have been at Microsoft.
Newbs
The last good thing written in C++ was the Pachelbel Canon.~Jerry Olson
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http://www.notesworkflow.com
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I suggest that I am one of those failures... Microsoft approached me through some acquaintances almost a year ago. I was introduced to someone hiring for a field based technical architect in collaboration. This may be different to the "Exchange Ranger" positions Ed and others have discussed. I was to be part of a team of technology experts who could help customers understand how their existing investments (in my case in Lotus stuff) could be enhanced by Microsoft products, particularly by migrating to the newer versions. It sounded good until I got into the interview cycle and ran into some folks who could not understand that there ever could be someone who might not need to immediately implement 100% Microsoft solutions.
So for a couple of months things were quiet and then they contacted me again and said they were interested in learning from my perspective. So they brought me to an interview day in a city that was two hours flight from my home. They put me up in a nice hotel and I went to start the interview at 8:00 am sharp. After the obligatory coffee and greetings, I was put into an interview room (with nice internet access) and told that folks would come by to talk to me during the morning, and that at some point I would be asked to give a presentation to a team. At 11:30 AM they came and asked if I was ready to present, which, as a frequent speaker, I always am. For about 1/2 hour I presented to three people (hiring manager/vp and two others) during which they worked hard to push me off topic and into arguments to see how I reacted and dealt with the pressure. I thought I did reasonably well. After that there was a box lunch (reasonably decent) and the promise that three to five people would be by to talk to me for 15 -30 minutes. About 2:30 someone did stop by and we talked for about 30 minutes. At 4:00 the hiring manager/vp came by and apologized for the lack of organization and sent me to the airport and home. I never heard from them again.
Clearly I was not the right candidate for Microsoft and I am glad that they figured that out, though I have not heard that they filled the Lotus Expert position. I am in a far better place now being at Teamwork Solutions than I could ever have been at Microsoft.
Newbs
The last good thing written in C++ was the Pachelbel Canon.~Jerry Olson
***************************************************************************************************
http://www.notesworkflow.com
***************************************************************************************************
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Comments :
1. Ed Brill08/29/2005 04:04:20 PM
Homepage: http://www.edbrill.com
Wish I had seen this sooner. Good for you, Henry!
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