Microsoft gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse!

So, I received some AWESOME news recently! An offer from Microsoft for an SDE (Software Development Engineer) position in its Online Services Division :D and as the title suggests, I couldn’t refuse ;)

As a result, I wanted to share with you, the different stages I went through in order to get this offer, along with some tips & tricks and resources that could help YOU land a job at the company of your dreams.

First, let me give you some context, and summarize the process, then I’ll try to give more details along with the tips & tricks in the following posts.

In the beginning of September, it came to my knowledge (through Facebook, oddly enough :P) that Microsoft was having a recruitment campaign in the MEA (Middle-East and Africa) region, and that there will be an event in Dubai from October 3rd to the 6th. The news mentioned the website “http://www.microsoft.com/university”, so I just went there and took a look around at the different “graduate” offers. It looked (very) interesting (duh!), so I decided to give it a try. I wrote a resume and submitted my application in the website. And waited …



A week later, I was VERY EXCITED to receive an email from a Recruiting Coordinator from Microsoft, asking for some contact information, and my availability for a phone interview. I gave them what they asked for and they confirmed my interview for September 13th. At the specified date, I got the call, but there were problems with the line so we had to postpone it. The second attempt was on the 16th, and it went splendidly. After the interview, I considered what I did well, and what wasn’t so well, and then waited… (again :P)

I didn’t have to wait for long though, for 3 days later, I got an email from an Interview Scheduling Specialist congratulating me on making it to the next stage: the “famous” in-person interviews (and yes, it’s plural ;) ) for both an SDE (Software Development Engineer) and an SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test). I was scheduled for October 5th. I departed to Dubai on the evening of the 4th, was there in the morning of the 5th, took some sleep and went for my interviews. I started at 1:30 PM, did 4 interviews of 45 minutes each (with 15 minutes of “rest” in between, and an additional 45 minutes waiting because there were 4 interviewers and 5 interviewees), with 2 interviews in Dev and 2 in Test. I got out at 7 PM, went to my hotel, had dinner and started for the airport! As you can see, I did go to Dubai, but didn’t really “visit it” :’-(



This time, there wasn’t much “waiting”. As I came back, I scanned and sent the exit stamp (which was required by the immigration at Dubai), and got the (happy) results the following day :D I got my offer, that I couldn’t refuse :)

That was the “quick” story. In the next 3 posts, I’ll try to cover the 3 steps of the process:

1. The Resume: Catch Their Attention!
2. The Phone Interview: Make a Very Good (first) Impression!
3. The In-person Interviews: Impress Them!

Stay tuned ;)