phunky_avocado | Niners

Zoe Goldring and Gretchen Ledgard - What is it like to interview at Microsoft?
Aug 23, 2004 at 11:19 AM

I just had a phone interview with MS. It was fine. But that is not the same as being there in person.

I interviewed recently for a startup in the Bay Area started by three MS employees of long standing and who were hugely successful with a previous startup. They were a bunch of pompous, holier-than-thou, and "we-are-so-much-smarter-than-you" pricks. I didn't go back to the second, final interview.

That's my XP with MS-related interviews.

variable wrote:

What a load of crap. Like Microsoft's interviewing has some sort of science behind it....[snip, snip, snip]...DO NOT come to Microsoft to interview unless you are a masochist.
Zoe Goldring and Gretchen Ledgard - What is it like to interview at Microsoft?
Aug 20, 2004 at 11:00 AM

We recently had someone apply for a senior development position. She asked as a minimum salary of $150K! Her background (as listed in her resume) included things like bus driver, janitor, Kmart register checkout person...

Gretchen wrote:

Zippy - that's a really good question. You're right ... we do get a lot of people who apply for positions well beyond their experience and that's always amusing. Things like: "I believe that my 5 years as Lead Cook at IHOP has prepared me for the opening as the Director of Windows." And people are serious.

As for corporate spies ... wow, that's a good one. Honestly, I've never thought about that. Kinda like "secret shoppers," huh?

A couple years ago, it was trendy to make one of those human billboards that read "Hire me" or "Will Code for Food" and then stand on the street corner near MS. For some reason (and I have no idea why), I was the person typically assigned to greeting them and talking to them about Microsoft. Never a dull moment ...
Pat Helland - Sings Bye Bye to Mr CIO Guy
Jun 30, 2004 at 8:25 PM

I don't know if I should laugh or if I should cry.
Anders Hejlsberg - What brought about the birth of the CLR?
Jun 22, 2004 at 11:51 AM

I sure hope COM goes the way of the dodo. COM programming was masochistic and C++ programming is just plain annoying (yet desirable under some circumstances). .NET makes writing software fun again.
Rebecca Norlander - Demo of XPSP2
Jun 09, 2004 at 10:29 AM

I was just thinking that if they use a tripod maybe there would be less shake and all. I use a tripod when I make videos and it works well. Also, some cameras come with a remote so you can zoom in and out without having to touch the camera, etc.

I thought it was obvious.

Steve411 wrote:

phunky_avocado wrote: Ever hear of a tripod?

What the * does tripod have to do with anything?
“A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Microsoft” Eric Rudder picks up Lenn
Jun 05, 2004 at 6:00 PM

There seems to be someone under a tarp or something in the back of the truck moving around. Maybe it was just the wind moving something.
Rebecca Norlander - Demo of XPSP2
Jun 05, 2004 at 1:03 PM

Dude, it's called a "tripod".

scobleizer wrote:

mhawley: agreed. Doing demos on screen is pretty tough with these low-end cameras we use.

I didn't shoot these but it's hard cause the focus doesn't work well when zoomed in.

I've been working on this and future videos will improve somewhat. The problem is we do all this stuff with one take, no professional equipment, and no professional camera crew. Excuses excuses, I know.

And if you want to move the camera closer (to get around the zooming/focus problem) you get a lot of camera shake.

Not easy. I have new-found respect for professional videographers.
Rebecca Norlander - Demo of XPSP2
Jun 05, 2004 at 1:02 PM

Ever hear of a tripod?
Rebecca Norlander - Demo of XPSP2
Jun 05, 2004 at 12:58 PM

No kidding! That was ridiculous. The camera person was recording the laptop like it was an interview with a person -- you don't often zoom in on the dude's nose, right? Well, next time zoom in on the dialogs so that we can see what they heck is going on.

Also, I liked the firewall stuff that I heard. Sounds like MS at the same old game of copying what other companies do that seem to work. I hope that instead of just copying other companies' ideas, MS improves on them...takes them one (or more) step(s) further. Oh well, if makes Windows better and safeer, so be it.
Kam Vedbrat - How are user expectations changing now that computers are being used longer every day?
Jun 05, 2004 at 12:27 PM

Defining different configurations (modes) (e.g., one for gaming, one for normal use, one for video-intensive editing work) would be very nice especially if it did not ential a reboot.

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