I found a collection of communities

My Microsoft story was a decade in the making. It involved more than a dozen interviews and one totally unexpected phone call that ultimately led to my current job as Global Black Belt Data & AI Specialist in the United Kingdom.  

Along the way I discovered that Microsoft is not a global multinational whose only concern is the bottom line. Much to my amazement, I discovered that Microsoft is actually a collection of communities where your colleagues care about you and are truly committed to your success. I can really make a difference here. 

“Much to my amazement, I discovered that Microsoft is actually a collection of communities where your colleagues care about you and are truly committed to your success.” 

I’ve been working in technology since the mid-1990s. I became interested in Data and Artificial Intelligence in 2003. I always knew that Microsoft’s technology was solid, and I worked with it virtually every day as a Business Intelligence Architect and SQL Server Tech Lead. I knew Microsoft was a place where I wanted to work.  

Unfortunately, after going through four different interview loops and not getting the job, I thought that day would never come. Then one day I got a call from a Microsoft recruiter who asked me if I was interested in one of the positions I had previously applied for. After hesitating for a moment, I said “I didn’t want to go through another set of interviews”. The recruiter, much to my surprise, said I didn’t have to. Microsoft was ready to make me an offer. 

Now that I’ve finished my first month, I can tell you that Microsoft is community-driven in a way that you’d have no of way knowing from the outside. It’s one thing to see banner ads about a company winning a “Best Place to Work Award”, it’s another to actually confirm that from the inside. My colleagues are always willing to help me out. Everybody is also committed to helping our local communities outside of Microsoft.  

“It’s one thing to see banner ads about a company winning a Best Place to Work Award, it’s another to actually work for a company that actually is.” 

Because I work with Artificial Intelligence, I’m very concerned with how some technology companies have given very little thought about using facial recognition technology to conduct mass surveillance. It was very refreshing to find out that Microsoft has very serious and thoughtful discussions about the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence and how it should be used.  

That is why I work at Microsoft.