So by now it's probably pretty obvious that I interviewed at Microsoft. Truthfully, I haven't been looking for a job, and I tend to like where I'm at right now. That said, I had a series of casual conversations with various people at Microsoft, and out of the blue I got a call asking me to come interview for a program manager position.
The PM position kind of reminds me of the gig I had at Penton Media, basically where you provide the vision and direction for something, and coordinate the development of that product. It's a neat mix of development, architecture, some degree of project management... really a little of everything.
Since Microsoft was paying for the visit, and, well, it's Microsoft, how could I not go? It's hard to say how I think it went, for a lot of reasons I'll talk about at some other point. Truly I think that this was as much about me seeing what the company was like as it was the company seeing if I was a good fit.
So regardless of the interview itself, I was actually quite surprised at the scope of the campus. I mean, I know Microsoft is fairly substantial, what with $50 billion in the bank, but it's amazing at how big the many buildings are, with their parking garages, shuttles driving around, etc. From the outside perspective, it seems like an enormous amount of overhead.
But when you get inside, it doesn't strike me as a company of excess, the way I perceive a lot of technology companies. They seem to be a lot more invested in their people, which is, I think, the right thing to spend your money on.
Like I said, I don't have a good read on how the interview went, or even how I feel overall about the entire experience, but there is a lot to think about if they do make an offer. If not, I'll continue working at Insurance.com, where they continue to give me more responsibility and more opportunity to meaningfully impact the business.
Wow, I can't believe I just wrote that. Sure is a different scenario than that of eight years ago.