6 years since I started at Microsoft - This is what I have learnt - Pt 1

With it being 6 years since I officially started my first role at Microsoft as an Intern, I decided to reflect on what I would tell myself if I knew what I know today.

Hopefully you can spot me within the FY16 Intern Cohort!

This is Part 1 of a multi-part blog series. It will focus on encouraging you to take ownership of your career, whether you are starting an internship, graduate program or you are a tenured employee and want to challenge your perspective. Future topics will include "How you show up", "Work life balance" and much more.

This blog covers my career tips in detail including:

• Follow your passion
• Be intentional in self discovery
• Imposter syndrome is real and that's ok
• Overcome the "What next?" fear
• Don't compare yourself
• Follow the money?
• Promotion or purpose?
• Career progression. It isn't always vertical.

Quick introduction

I started at Microsoft UK in 2016 as a Business Analytics Intern in Microsoft Search, then returned as a Graduate in 2018 within Microsoft Business Applications doing Sales and Technical Sales. Recently, I moved to Microsoft Corp in the US to lead part of the Power Platform Product Marketing. My career to date has given me a diverse set of experiences and skills which I will share in this post.

To set some context for my personality, I am an introvert trained extrovert, pragmatic, strategic thinker, and fair minded, according to my Insights Discovery profile.

Note: Not everyone is the same, but these are the experiences that have helped me towards a stable and happy career path in Microsoft.

I want to start with a story that changed my career experience

I was almost two years into my career. I knew the role wasn't a good fit me personally and professionally, and it didn't give me the energy to get up every morning. I felt way out of my comfort zone, and it wasn't getting any better, despite my team telling me I was doing everything right and on track for success.

Being in a sales role, all my hard work was coming together for year-end and then COVID struck. Everything I worked towards vanished in a matter of weeks. (First learning: worry about the things you can control).

A combination of setting unrealistic high expectations for myself, mixed with feelings of guilt that I had let the team and Microsoft down was consuming me. I kept it quiet for 2 months, but I was at breaking point- I convinced myself I needed to leave Microsoft and look elsewhere.

It was then that a moment of true leadership from an old manager saved my career. He listened, helped me put together an action plan, and introduced me to the right people to pivot to a career that was right for me. This was a transformational moment when I realized the importance of purpose, transparency and trust in the workplace.

This experience changed my outlook on how I approached my career and helped me formulate some key learnings to set myself up for a long and happy career.

Top career learnings:

Follow your passion

You should follow what gives you energy and excites you to get up in the morning. I was intentional with evaluating what I did and didn't enjoy in roles with traffic light systems (red, amber, green) which helped me discover areas of the business that sparked my interest.

For me, autonomy, creativity, technology focussed, programme/campaign management and public speaking opportunities were key. This helped me identify colleagues in and outside of Microsoft that could share their experiences and wisdom.

For those that feel that they haven't found their passion or unsure what you enjoy. It took me a long time; hence why I made a few career moves. It's normal, and there are many opportunities throughout your career where you will identify what you are passionate about.

Be intentional in self discovery

At Microsoft, there is an opportunity to participate in Career Advisory Boards (CAB) which provides you with a platform to present to leaders in Microsoft aligned to your aspirations. You discuss topics like who you are, what you do today, learning/development plans and future aspirations, followed by an active discussion and the formation of an action plan. This was the most enlightening experience in shaping my thinking and being intentional with what I wanted to do.

However, self-discovery doesn't have to be part of a formal program, it could be an informal hour-long call with relevant stakeholders to get their perspectives on growth and progression.

These are some of the activities I recommend to anyone looking to engage in self-discovery:

• Personality tests/Discovery Insights - categorises your personality into workstyles
• Work motivators and value tests - shows what you value in a job
• Career analysis tests - suggests potential roles to consider
• Internal perspective feedback - ask your team members. (You can make it anonymous)

I recommend using these outputs as contributions to your thoughts vs. set directions to follow.

Imposter syndrome is real and that's ok

That feeling of not fitting in or feeling good enough may always be there, but you can learn how to handle it. It's very easy to have that feeling with ambiguous job descriptions and not find out what you will truly be doing until day one!

The hierarchy of competency (four stages below) felt very relevant for me in the first couple of years in my career. Once I had reached the "conscious incompetence" stage, that's when I felt imposter syndrome most, when you are aware of the gaps in skills to be successful.

Naturally, you worry people think you are not the right fit for the role and put unnecessary pressure on yourself to perform.

These are some of the tips I used:

• Be transparent with how you feel
• Celebrate your successes, even if they are small
• Let go of perfectionism
• Cultivate self-compassion and be kind to yourself
• Use community groups to share your experiences
• Know that you are not alone- we have all been there

Overcome the "What next?" fear

When I first finished university, I had the "Wow, I just work for the rest of my life now..." realization. It was the first time I didn't have a plan set out for me. The previous 10 years followed the anticipated education path, complete my GCSEs and A-levels, attend University, then get a job. And once I hit that, I was a little lost.

Reflecting on the first 6 months of my career, I wish I had prioritized making the most of experiences, been present and enjoyed the moment. During this time, it's important to focus on your learning, meet new people, and adapt to processes and technology. It takes time.

If you commit to too much early in your job, it is difficult to sustain the expectations you set of yourself. Focus on onboarding, development and set the foundations to be successful. Don't look too far ahead for the first year.

Don't compare yourself

Everyone is unique with different skillsets and experiences- no one is the same. "Competition" can be healthy at times if it drives you to consider things you haven't done before in role, but not when it leads to jealousy, like "X got a promotion" or "why did I not get added to this project".

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. Everyone goes at a different pace and runs their own race.

The most common form of comparison is "success". For some, it might be a role title or a level in the company, for others it might be working from 9-5 and then spend valuable time with your family. You define what success means to you.

Follow the money?

Don't just follow the money. A contradictory statement being in the tech industry, however, I have made conscious moves away from roles with higher pay, such as sales, to pursue areas of the business that I was truly passionate about.

For me, a quarterly sales bonus wasn't enough for me to sacrifice my happiness. I wasn't in it for the money and numerous work value quizzes (Work values test) reinforced that financial rewards were a lower priority vs. achievement (impactful work) and role competency.

I am a true believer that if you love what you do, the money will follow.

Promotion or purpose?

I have found recently that chasing promotions to progress wasn't healthy for me. Chasing promotions left me temporarily fulfilled, but always chasing the next high of success. I had become fixated on progression and became dissatisfied if I was not promoted every year (which I now know was unrealistic), particularly when promotions are not just based on performance and can be impacted by uncontrollable factors like budget availability.

I decided to ignore the relentless content online about the art to promotions and switch my mindset to pursuing purpose. Something that now keeps me more focussed and ambitious, even in times of hardship.

Sometimes the above can be misconstrued with "taking your foot off the gas", which it shouldn't be. Progression shouldn't be confused with ambition. It is incredibly important to have goals and keep hungry, but in the right way.

A tip would be, have the conversation with your manager about where you want to be, agree at the beginning and regularly check in on your goals.

Also note that with accelerated progression/greater responsibility comes higher expectations. There is nothing worse than climbing the ladder too quick and not having the experience to deliver.

Career progression. It isn't always vertical.

It's normal to have lateral moves in your career. The average number of years you work in life is between 30-40 years. If it was always up, everyone would be a director or C-level in their early 30s.

Make career moves for what you want to do rather than what is expected. For example, if you are a Seller, it doesn't have to be that a Seller moves to Sales Manager then Sales Director, GM, CVP etc. You define your career path. Mine was Sales to Technology Sales to Marketing- a range of roles and experiences.

I keep banging the drum on taking control in your career as I see people far too often follow the most comfortable path laid out for them vs. challenging the way of thinking and the "why".

Thank you for reading!

This is just the start of sharing my career learnings I pick up along the way. It will be different for everyone, but I hope it has been useful for points to consider as you build and maintain a career for the long-term.

I am always open to feedback and discussions and look forward to any suggestions for future topics.

Thanks!

Jack Rowbotham

Up next: "How you show up" learnings