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At Microsoft the focus is on emerging global markets and a global workforce, and on global inclusiveness. Microsoft forecasts a worldwide market for the company's products, so the corporation is actively recruiting qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds. "Diverse communities, whether they're in America, Mexico, India or Africa, are going to be future users of our products. They are also going to be the creative drivers behind our new products, so if we don't recruit from this audience, we're going to fall behind," says Jenn Watt, diversity staffing coordinator for college recruiting.
Microsoft develops, manufactures and licenses a wide range of software products, and supports them with consulting, training, certification programs and a host of other services. Besides its headquarters in Redmond, WA, Microsoft has locations in Silicon Valley; Fargo, ND; Charlotte, NC; Los Colinas, TX; Boston, MA; and Washington, DC.
In 2005 the company had a banner year, hiring 1,400 new college graduates. "It was enormous!" Watt says, adding that Microsoft will be seeking another large crop of graduates to fill permanent positions in 2007.
Microsoft looks primarily for computer science majors, computer engineers and electrical engineers, especially with software backgrounds. It also seeks math majors. Most are BS graduates, but Watt notes that MS and PhDs grads are hired too. Most PhDs go into research, program management or software design engineering.
Desirable candidates have a passion for technology, show talent and ability, have a strong work ethic, and exhibit "self-critical behavior:" the willingness to accept feedback and improve oneself. "We work in teams for pretty much everything we do here, so it's vital for us to have strong communication and a connection with others as well as a self-critical sense of ourselves," Watt says.
Microsoft actively targets fifty top-tier colleges and universities for recruitment, including Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, Purdue, Brown, Georgia Tech, Florida Institute of Technology and the University of Puerto Rico. It also recruits from a number of additional historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic- serving institutions. Microsoft representatives and recruiters visit the targeted campuses to do company presentations and give technical talks to student organizations.
Microsoft draws heavily from its student internship and co-op pools to recruit full-time employees. Its twelve-week summer internship program caters to students from higher-education institutions around the country. Last year there were about 1,200 participants at the Redmond headquarters doing everything from marketing to IT support to low-level software testing.
The corporation offers thirty six-month co-op slots in the fall or spring to students from a select group of schools, including the University of Waterloo in Canada, Howard and Northeastern. "The reward for us here is that if students wind up coming on board full time, they are a little bit more knowledgeable about the company and our expectations," Watt says.
In 2006 Microsoft had 130 women interns, 58 percent of whom signed on to return to Microsoft, either as full-time employees or for another internship. There were eighty-five underrepresented minorities, 65 percent of whom returned. The numbers for both groups are up from the previous year.
When new employees come on board there are a variety of ways they can find support. To begin, each person attends a two-day new employee orientation and is offered online diversity training. Diversity leadership teams within each product group provide formalized programs, social activities and mentoring opportunities. The Windows team, for example, has a women's group that meets twice a month for speakers and luncheons.
Microsoft has a diversity advisory council that oversees employee-led groups such as Blacks@Microsoft (BAM!), Women@Microsoft and Gay & Lesbian Employees@Microsoft (GLEAM). These groups are company-wide, with chapters in a variety of business organizations and geographic locations.
Watt notes that each group's activities are driven by the employees. GLEAM works to raise community awareness about AIDS, and BAM! organized an African American leadership and development conference in the fall of 2005. A Hispanic group will hold a similar conference in 2007.
Mentors are available to every Microsoft employee who requests one. The mentor may be in the same organization or team, or even from another organization. The company also offers tuition assistance to full-time employees who want to pursue advanced degrees in their fields.
Microsoft participates in an array of community outreach programs, Watt says. Educational outreach begins as early as kindergarten and moves on up through college. Microsoft supports a high school internship program that focuses on providing exposure to technology to students in the Puget Sound area.
Both new grad hires and veteran employees are involved with the high-school program. They also assist with recruiting efforts at events held by national organizations like NSBE, SHPE and SWE. "We have a slew of full-time employees who have stayed involved in the NSBE or SWE chapters located on the campuses of their alma maters," Watt says.
Microsoft is especially proud of two college campus programs: the Imagine Cup and the Skins Challenge. The Imagine Cup is an international competition among universities. Students are given four gigs of memory, a transmitter and a computer screen, and are charged with coming up with an innovative idea. The Skins Challenge is a national contest to create a new user interface for Microsoft's Media Player. "Howard is a huge participant in that, and the winner is recognized at the national NSBE conference," Watt reports.
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www.microsoft.com
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Headquarters: |
Redmond, WA |
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Employees: |
70,000 worldwide |
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Revenues: |
$39.7 billion in 2005 |
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Business: |
Develops, manufactures and licenses a wide range of software products and supports them with consulting services, training, certification and more |
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