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Job at Microsoft

Here's How to Get Hired

Companies like Microsoft play a key role in the tech industry and provide solutions to the fundamental challenges we face daily. If you’re considering a career with one of the world’s tech giants, we’ve prepared this article just for you. In it, you’ll learn how to get a job at Microsoft, including their hiring process, their company culture, and the reviews left by previous employees.

What Is Microsoft? Microsoft Company Overview

The Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to empower individuals and organizations to achieve more through technology. The tech duo created the Microsoft BASIC software, which ran on the Altair computer, and provided related services. From then, it has grown to become one of the biggest tech companies globally, producing personal computers, consumer electronics, hardware, and of course, software.

Today, Microsoft has infiltrated every digital space with technological innovations like Windows, which has become a household name. The company’s subsidiaries include LinkedIn, Github, Mojang, and Xbox Game Studios. According to Forbes, Microsoft is worth well over $1 trillion, and its workforce includes data scientists, programmers, product managers, and software engineers.

What Is It Like to Work at Microsoft?

Working with one of the world’s tech giants comes with many perks and benefits. Microsoft’s culture and vision provide a productive environment for employees to grow both professionally and personally. Microsoft is definitely a place to work if you want to invest in your physical, emotional, and financial well-being.

What's the Company Culture at Microsoft?

Microsoft maintains a culture that encourages its employees to learn with a growth mindset. Applying that mindset enables them to provide solutions to transform the world while being both diverse and inclusive in their approach. This culture is responsible for fueling their many innovations.

What's the Average Salary at Microsoft?

Based on reports from Payscale, the average annual salary at Microsoft range from $54,572 to $173,068 depending on the role and experience of the employee. Glassdoor has rated it as The Best Places to Work on four occasions, which no doubt means that its average salary is enough for employees to feel well taken care of.

What Employee Benefits and Perks Can You Get at Microsoft?

The benefits one enjoys by working at Microsoft are enormous. They come in many variants like health and wellness, leave and paid time off, financial bonuses, and flexibility at work. In addition, employees have access to a flexible spending account and a wide range of insurance packages.

Microsoft Employee Reviews

If the salaries and benefits at Microsoft don’t sway you to apply, consider reading the employee reviews shared on Indeed. According to past and present employees, Microsoft is generally a reputable organization to work with. It provides an opportunity to network with smart people while giving room for growth and professional development.

Also, employees can work from home up to 50 percent of the time, which provides a great opportunity to achieve a healthy work-life balance. On the flip side, some complain that promotions come at a rather slow pace compared to other organizations because of a large number of middle managers.

An office building with the Microsoft logo. Microsoft Hiring Process: Getting a Job at Microsoft

Microsoft Hiring Process: Getting a Job at Microsoft

The hiring process at Microsoft can last up to two months and is comprised of five different stages. The company offers tips to successfully ace the recruitment process. It advises interested applications to research Microsoft’s core competencies and learn about what the whole application process entails.

Do You Need a Degree to Work for Microsoft?

While Microsoft aims to employ raw talent, there is a minimum educational requirement for most positions, especially tech-related ones. A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field is typically sufficient. However, having a certain level of practical experience and technical skills can also help you land a role in this company, and will at least give you an edge.

Microsoft Job Application and Interview Process

As mentioned above, there are five stages in the recruitment process at Microsoft. The entire process aims to assess your collaboration skills, drive for results, customer focus, judgment, and adaptability.

  1. Application Stage. This is the first stage, which is done on the company’s application page. You will be required to submit your resume and fill out the online application forms. It would help if you had a strong resume tailored to the specific role you are applying to.
  2. Phone Screening. Here, the recruiter chats with you over the phone to verify your resume. Behavioral questions are also asked to determine your keenness, curiosity, and leadership abilities.
  3. Phone Interview. While the previous stage is designed to verify the information you provided and test basic skills, this stage is a more technical interview that assesses your understanding of algorithms and data structures. Usually, the topics to be discussed will be set ahead of time for you to adequately prepare.
  4. In-Person Interview. The in-person interview comprises a total of five interviews along with a lunch break. The lunch break is also part of the interview and will be with the team you would be working with if you got the job. For each stage, the interviewer will be of a higher rank, and all stages are designed to assess different skills.
  5. Offer Meeting. If you are successful with the previous stages, you will be promptly contacted for a discussion and presented with an offer letter. You will also get a chance to discuss the benefits attached.

Is It Hard to Get a Job at Microsoft?

Getting a job at Microsoft can be difficult because they receive thousands of applications for each opening. It is a very competitive process and the standards are high. This means that you have to bring some rock-solid skills to the table if you want to secure your dream job at this company.

What Data-Driven Jobs Can I Get at Microsoft?

There are many job placements available at Microsoft, offering opportunities to contribute to its global development. To help you find the perfect fit, we’ve compiled a list of some of the common job openings available at Microsoft.

Senior Business Analyst

Who You Are: To be a successful candidate, you must have a Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent, in Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field. You also need a minimum of five years of experience as a business analyst, data analyst, or related roles. A background in Power BI and advanced Excel (VBA) is also required.

What You’ll Do: As a senior business analyst, you will work with various teams including product, program, and engineering teams, to plan and design BI dashboards. You will also organize data and report the needs of the organization.

Data Engineer

Who You Are: The requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s in Data Science or a related field such as Computer Science. You also need two or more years of experience in BI or software development using MS or related technologies. Candidates must have strong programming skills with at least one high-level language, and experience building data models and performing complex queries using SQL.

What You’ll Do: As a data engineer, you are responsible for testing new product initiatives through the development of metrics and dashboards. You will also write big data ETL pipelines on Azure in SCOPE, Python, or other programming languages.

Machine Learning Engineer

Who You Are: To be eligible to get a job at Microsoft as a machine learning engineer, you are expected to have a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science or a related field with a good knowledge of data structures and algorithms. Experience with an object-oriented programming language such as C++, C#, or Java is also required.

What You’ll Do: In this role, you will be responsible for the research and development cycle stages of a project, from the concept and design to business integration. You will also ensure the project’s sustainability and stability. In addition, you will partner with other development teams to contribute ideas to building demos and apps.

Data Analyst

Who You Are: For this role, a Bachelor’s degree in a STEM area is preferred but not required. You should have a minimum of four years of experience extracting and analyzing data for large asset catalogs and the digital media or tech industries. Solid knowledge of SQL is necessary, as well as excellent critical thinking and presentation skills.

What You’ll Do: As a data analyst, you will be responsible for studying all data points and presenting them to various teams to understand the actions and needs of customers. While you organize a data strategy to aid the scaling of the business, you lead research and experiments on new strategies to be implemented.

Datacenter Technician Lead

Who You Are: To be a successful candidate for this role, you must have experience working with IT systems and technology. In addition, you must have experience leading a technical team of up to eight people. A degree in Computer Science, Telecommunications, or equivalent work experience with CompTIA, Microsoft, or Network certifications is an added advantage.

What You’ll Do: As a datacenter technician lead, you will lead a team responsible for hardware installations. In addition, you will manage and control resources to ensure that project deliveries are met as you provide support to the DCT team when necessary

Senior Software Engineer

Who You Are: To be eligible for a role as a senior software engineer at Microsoft, you should have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field. Also, a minimum of five years of experience configuring APO DP, SNP, GATP, and ECC SD/MM modules is required. Furthermore, you should have excellent problem-solving skills and an ability to communicate effectively.

What You’ll Do: In this role, you will be expected to execute strategies to deliver important system improvements. While you build and manage the service in an SAP DevOps Environment, you will also lead and manage teams, and partner with engineers and architects to discover emerging industry trends and technologies.

A laptop showing data represented by curves and charts. How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Hired at Microsoft

How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Hired at Microsoft

There are a few tips you should take note of before and after your interview to increase your chances of landing a job at Microsoft.

Do your research.

Before you apply, make sure you do proper research on the job and its requirements.

Make sure you satisfy most of the conditions and ensure that you follow guidelines properly during your application.

Have a strong resume.

You want to write a strong resume that is unique to the job you apply for because this is your opportunity to make a first good impression. If your resume doesn’t cut it, you will most likely not be contacted.

Be yourself.

Come as you are and do not try to impress anyone. Make sure you are confident in your abilities, aware of your weaknesses or areas that you want to improve, and if you get to an interview stage, make sure you are calm and well-rested.

Envision your future.

Beyond the role you are applying for, make sure you are ready to discuss your broader personal and career goals. Make sure you can clearly explain how these goals relate to Microsoft’s vision for their employees, which you can learn more about on Microsoft Life.

Know Microsoft's core competencies.

This includes an ability to communicate effectively, being able to effectively tackle complex problems, and the ability to deal with ambiguous and uncertain situations or problems with agility.

Demonstrate an effective thought process.

Your interviewers will assess your ability to think effectively as well as your level of curiosity. They don’t expect you to know everything, so don’t be afraid of being asked technical questions that you don’t know how to answer. Instead, focus on explaining your thought process and problem-solving mindset, and show your integrity and ability to be resourceful.

How to Get a Job at Microsoft FAQ

What's the best way to apply for a role at Microsoft?

The best way is to apply through Microsoft’s Careers website. Create a profile and ensure you check for updates regularly.

Can I apply for multiple jobs at a time?

Yes, you can apply for more than one job at a time. Make sure to differ your resume and application replies to suit the job you’re applying for.

Does Microsoft have an employee referral program?

Microsoft has a referral program and advises applicants to reach out to friends and former colleagues so that they can submit your information.

Can I keep more than one resume on my profile?

Yes, however, even though you can upload multiple resumes, the last resume uploaded is what recruiters will most likely use to assess you.

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