4 lessons learned in 5 years at Microsoft (plus a ‘getting in the door’ bonus)

Some of you may know Microsoft’s fiscal calendar is July 1-June 30th, but this date is doubly impactful to me as my employment with Microsoft started on the first weekday of FY18, or July 2nd.?That means I have just recently surpassed the 5-year mark with Microsoft and I wanted to share a few things I have learned about the organization in those years.

First, 2 caveats:

• These are only my experiences and observations, not official MS practice or policy
• My observations are all from within the Sales/Field and that differentiator matters, see later

And now, the observations.

The two management levels above you can make or break your experience

I have had almost entirely positive experiences with my managers at Microsoft, with each one of them taking a different approach to enabling their team members.?The ones that have most driven me have focused on where I want to be career-wise, provided strategic/programmatic guidance, sheltered me from unnecessary inspection from above, and tactically addressed any specific situations and questions I bring them. I cannot overstate the excellence in management that I have had the great fortune to work with at Microsoft.

Counter to my experience, I know of others who?hit their numbers consistently, were solid teammates and performers but felt ‘managed-out’ by their skip-level manager. This is nothing unique to Microsoft but is so opposed to my own experience that I felt it notable.

Rather than just sharing both sides of that coin, the take-away would be to be aware of your exposure and relationship to your manager and your skip-level; seek opportunities to interact with them directly, have them observe your work, figure out what motivates them and work to positively impact those metrics directly. Finally, if there are challenges that cannot be resolved, it may be time to lean into your internal network and look for your next opportunity. It is fairly common internally to change roles every couple years and there is no issue if a person who has been in role for a year or more starting to look around.

Engineering and Sales/Field roles live in entirely different worlds

This may be the most obvious statement in the list on the surface, but upon joining Microsoft?I felt like we were all one big team, all moving the same direction with most of the same challenges and motivators.?In a lot of ways, this is true; Satya casts an amazing vision and the teams at Microsoft work to see that vision realized.?That said, I work on understanding the differences in how my role and others in the organization are motivated, compensated, and measured in an effort to build both my empathy for others and their trust in me.?I have found that seasonality, motivations, understanding of our customers, and focus for the future are very different between the sales org and engineering.

The huge value take-away here is that by knowing there is a vastly different view on most topics between the sales field and engineering, you have the opportunity to be that bridge. Wherever you are in the organization, be aware of the vastly different viewpoints and look to help your team understand those other viewpoints while bringing your teams' experience and views to the other organization. Creating clarity and understanding is such a valued activity and this is an area ripe with such opportunity.

Yes, it is cliché but “the only constant is change”

Every single year, and often multiple times per year, things will change.?Sometimes it is the accounts I cover, sometimes it is the technologies I evangelize, sometimes it is the vertical or industry I serve.?For me, this is one of the top benefits/perks of being at Microsoft!? I am almost forced to embrace a growth mindset, to be a learn-it-all, to recreate my business and path to impact every year.?When I interviewed, I was told “if you accept an offer here, understand you are joining Microsoft, not becoming a ‘role name here.’”?That advice was prophetic and helped me adapt when my role was eliminated less than one year in, and I was transitioned into a different role (which is roughly still what I do and love today).

This might be a positive or a negative for you; I do know people who have been in the same role for 20+ years, so I am not saying it doesn't happen; what I am saying is there is such opportunity for growth and learning within Microsoft that it would seem a shame not to take advantage of it.

Good networking skills are critical to success

Continuing from above, every time roles change, I have been given the opportunity to meet a whole team of new people within Microsoft as well as at my customers.? I aim to maintain contact with everyone I work with and always bring my best to each interaction.?I have had co-workers become my manager, co-workers move into engineering roles that help me bring an inside track to some of my customers, and even had customers become co-workers and co-workers become customers.?With how often things change it would be difficult to avoid growing a network over time.

BONUS: Networking is so very important both within Microsoft as well as before you come on board.?I can say that of the many new hires I have worked with, those who were referred into the role by the current team have all been rockstars.?This means there is a very important sub-process for getting hired and quickly making an impact at Microsoft (and likely any other large company) … probably obvious, but:

• Decide upon you niche/skillset
• Hone that skillset and constantly work on bettering your capabilities (a.k.a. be worth referring)
• Network with people who work here… go to user’s groups, conferences and events where we will be represented, etc. (feel free to follow or connect with me if you would like to begin building that network)
• Go deeper, if possible - if there are projects you can work on with people at Microsoft (we are involved in a lot of open-source projects, many of us run User Groups or other such events, some are involved in charity work on the side, etc) that gives people a chance to experience you and your work
• Ask for a referral, pointing to prior experience with them, as well as publicly available proof of your honed skills (GitHub repo, YouTube video, Blog with solid history, etc). I would say it is challenging to provide a referral for someone you only know because they contacted you on LinkedIn... but if you have worked together before, and you brought your best, do not be shy about asal