Throughout the years, Microsoft has been named one of the best companies to work for - and not without good reason. From endless career development opportunities to health benefits that go above and beyond, we know how to reward our employees for their hard work. Some Microsoft programs even reach out to our employees’ family members and encourage Microsofties' personal growth.

One thing many don’t know about the company is that we didn’t clone Bill Gates 90,000 times. Our employees come from a variety of backgrounds and hold many different skill sets. But the best people to tell you what it’s really like to work at Microsoft are those who really work here. Check out some of our favorite posts and videos to hear what real employees say about being a part of the empire. 

How can Microsoft ease my relocation experience?

Microsoft's Company Meeting

Working for Microsoft outside the U.S.

Riding the connector

Check out what a few of our interns thought about their employee benefits ...

Perks: A Microsoft guy tries to use all his benefits in one day

And hear how employees balance work with their busy personal lives ...

Roundtable: Work Life Balance at Microsoft

JobsBlog would like to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July weekend.

Let's take a moment to recognize that, for veterans of the US Armed Forces, the transition from military to civilian careers can be daunting.

Microsoft's We Still Serve community supports US Military Veterans and those still active in the National Guard and Reserve, in preparing for transition, or looking for their next corporate opportunities. Check out the recently relaunched site at westillserve.com

We have a group of volunteers that have a shared military experience who will be available to discuss what it’s like to work at Microsoft and to help veterans think through next steps toward applying for a job with us.

Join the We Still Serve Community today.

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July 30th is officially the last day for Bing Cashback. 

It has been a great ride. Shopping remains one of the most significant things we do online and getting cash back for shopping is always a nice bonus. The whole Cashback program has shown us the ease of use when it comes to Bing Shopping and all of the trustworthy and respected sites that are official merchants on Bing Shopping. 

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If you haven’t seen our candidate experience lobby in Building 111, you’re going to want to come check it out.

We’ve had quite a few recent additions to our lounge including the newest games, Modern Warfare 2 controllers (for the serious gamer) and a sweet new Rockband set up - complete with ACDC “Back in the Black” drum sticks!

We’re also setting up some Zunes and (soon) Windows 7 Phones at the bar so candidates can explore the great variety of Microsoft devices while waiting for their interviews…

Our updated lobby creates the ultimate Microsoft experience for candidates while they’re here visiting us. It’s an awesome place to start the Microsoft journey, rock out, or just relax!

Who knows, soon you may be able to play Kinect in the lobby too.

-Kelly

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As they say: if you want to understand the present, you've gotta learn about the past. 

Check out this Channel 9 video about Microsoft in 1975 - the year it all began. It's pretty crazy to see how today's cutting-edge technology is built on the vision of a few plucky entrepreneurs who scratched out a combined grand total of just $16,005 their first year.

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One year ago this week, we launched Bing. It’s been a whirlwind 12 months, with the team shipping tons of new cool features aimed at making it easy and fast to make key decisions and just get stuff done.

We wanted to take a short break to say thanks. Thanks to all our customers who have used the service, sent feedback, become partners, told us where we can do better, read our blog, retweeted our tweets, and just generally supported us in this 1^st year of our journey.

It’s an incredibly humbling thing to have had the opportunity to participate in so many interesting and important conversations with you, either at big industry events like SMX, Web 2, TED, SES, etc., or here at the blog, in Facebook and Twitter.

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Hi everyone! My name's Kelly, and I'm the new concierge at Microsoft. I'm the first person that most candidates meet when they arrive on campus.

Before coming to Microsoft, I worked primarily in the Special Events industry, so... I like to think I’m a professional at making sure people have a good time. I am in the final stages of completing my B.A. in Social Sciences with a minor in Communications at Eastern Washington University and I can’t wait to graduate. I’ve lived in the Seattle area for most of my life, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

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Qi Lu, President of Online Services - Bing, was named as #10 in Fast Company magazine's 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010.

Even though Qi didn't beat out Lady Gaga or the creator of Glee for the top spot, this holder of 20 U.S. patents won his high ranking for inventiveness (while Lady Gaga's outfits are inventive, really, how many patents can she claim?).

Fast Company wrote, "Spurning the antiquated practice of releasing new updates every couple of years, Lu is creating an environment where live-cycle updates and product improvements are constant." Maybe that doesn't sound as colorful as an episode of Glee, but the television show can't even start to rival the number of people who use Bing on a daily basis - and use Bing for so much more than just entertainment.

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For the third consecutive year, Microsoft was voted as Number One on the Top 100 List of Europe’s Best Workplaces. This year, 1,300 European companies participated in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s annual Trust Index© Survey, the largest annual workplace survey in the world. The companies taking part in the study represented 1,619,076 employees.
 
Microsoft was recognized for great, consistent results in Austria (#3 and Best Workplace for females), Belgium (#2 and Best Inspirational Leadership), Denmark (#8 and Best IT Workplace), Finland (#4 and Best Recruiting Practice), France (#1), Germany (#3), Ireland (#1), Italy (#1), Netherlands (#1), Norway (#2), Portugal (#1), Spain (#2), Sweden (#3), Switzerland (#5) and the UK.

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Shopping is honestly one of my favorite topics. I’m shocked as I type these words because I never thought I would be able to write about shopping at work - and here I am, doing just that.

Actually, I’m not just shocked, I'm thrilled... thrilled that I work for Bing and that we are creating real solutions that help me stay connected with my friends and family while living everyday life.

Shopping has always been a social event from buying accessories for prom to finding the best bang for your buck with all of the graduation cash you have on hand. You want quality, the best price and the opinion of your friends and family. Bing has now made online shopping way cooler. You can share an item you see on Bing Shopping with your friends on Facebook and your followers on Twitter and get feedback/opinions instantly. 

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‘Softie in Question: Amy Lin

Job title: Project Manager for Excel Services. I work on Excel in the Cloud. The Project Manager role is much more multi-faceted than it sounds. We’re at the intersection of project managers, designers and customer champions!

You’re in your early 20s and you’re a Project Manager at Microsoft… you must be doing something right. Did you always know that you wanted to work for Microsoft?
I grew up around here and starting building websites when I was 11 and was programming games like Monopoly by high school. We only had one computer science class in my high school, but it led me to the Microsoft high school internship program - which was only for students in the Seattle-area.

I didn’t do big stuff during the internship and wasn't totally set on returning to Microsoft, but it was good industry exposure. Up until that point, I had no idea what “computer science” really meant or how it could actually be applied. I just knew I was interested in technology.

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XBOX 360 and the Seattle Sounders have enjoyed great success in their marquee partnership and now Bing is very pleased to join the WNBA's Seattle Storm in announcing a multi-year deal.

Bing will become the official decision engine of the Seattle Storm and you’ll see the Bing logo inside the arena, on the players’ game and practice jerseys, as well as on the big screen during games.

We’re also extremely proud and excited that Bing will be the presenting sponsor of the Junior Storm program, a year round program dedicated to supporting youth basketball in our own community.

At the core of this partnership is our commitment to collaborate on community outreach and activities right here in our own backyard. We feel that it is important to show the value of women in sports and to engage kids with the excitement of women’s professional basketball. 

Bing will be giving away thousands of Storm tickets to the local Boys and Girls Clubs to give them the opportunity to be inspired by watching players like Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson compete in world-class WNBA basketball.

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Who says that college is fun and work is boring?

Work life at Microsoft is anything but the cubicle routine found at many contemporary companies. Among a universe of other perks, benefits and support, Microsoft hosts diverse and dynamic speakers who keep employees in touch with the cutting edge (if not the future) of technology.

Yesterday, I saw a speech by Craig Mundie and – a couple hours later – a presentation by Ben Huh. Mundie is Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer and part of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Huh is the CEO and Founder of the Cheezburger Network: over 30 popular humor sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger, GraphJam and FAIL blog. His sites attract over 13 million daily visits.

The two talks ran from the highest levels of tech research down to addictively lowbrow Internet humor… and both speakers blew my mind.

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‘Softie in Question: McKenzie Eakin

Job title: Xbox LIVE Service Delivery Program Manager

That’s quite a title, what exactly does that mean?
Pardon the analogy, but I bartended in college, it’s:

*One part Back-end Community Strategy – setting the vision and direction for how we enable our customers to connect with each other and with us, from a behind-the-scenes systems and programs perspective. 

*Two parts execution – everything from managing the @XboxSupport Elite Tweet Fleet to the Xbox Ambassadors program, which recognizes and promotes good gaming and sportsmanship.

*And the whole cocktail is garnished with a LOT of Beatles Rockband.

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Earlier this week, CNET's Ina Fried published a story on Microsoft Disaster Reponse Manager Gisli Olafsson and his recent recent experiences helping the people and country of Haiti: What a Microsoft rescue worker saw in Haiti.

While many people have jobs at Microsoft that aim to avoid disasters, Gisli Olafsson's job is getting through them.

As a full-time disaster management specialist for the software maker, Olafsson works with the United Nations and other agencies to prepare before devastation hits and also to coordinate efforts once it does. Olafsson has been sent across the globe to deal with the aftermath of earthquakes and hurricanes, offering help in rebuilding the infrastructure that nature has wiped away.

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`Softie in Question: Clint Rutkas

Job Title: Technical Evangelist

You´ve got all of these crazy gadgets sitting around your office. Can you explain what some of these things are?
This´s all .NET hardware that I´ve built, namely a computer-controlled, light-up dance floor, a self-balancing skateboard and an automated bartender called Drinktendr.

So, your job is what?... to come up with cool ideas and figure out how to make them into realities?
I am part developer, part content producer for Channel 9 and I run the Microsoft blog Coding4Fun – which, yes, is all about learning how to make fun stuff with .NET technology.

Through the act of learning, people start to see the technology from a new viewpoint: what they once perceived as a nail may been seen as a screw to be used in a completely different way and create something nobody´s ever thought of before.

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’Softie in question: Cheryl Platz

Job title: User Experience Designer on the Management and Administration eXperience

I heard that you were a protégé of the late Randy Pausch of The Last Lecture fame. Can you tell us about working with Professor Pausch?
I didn't even know about my field of human-computer interaction until I went on my college visit to Carnegie Mellon. There was this guy there, Randy Pausch, who spoke of combining design, programming and psychology - all at the same time. It blew my mind. To top it off, he mentioned that he was an Imagineer. I had always loved Disney, especially theme parks - and I'd never seen an Imagineer in the wild before. I was sold.

After my first few years at CMU, Randy became my professor in undergrad and, then, grad school and my boss when I was a teaching assistant for his "Building Virtual Worlds" class. But, even more than that, Randy helped to realize one of my personal dreams. He walked up to me before class one day and asked, "Do you have any plans for this summer? I think that I have a job for you at Disney World." I almost cried in front of everyone.

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This post is courtesy of Bing Jobs Blog:

I’m a big Top Chef fan and I love to cook, but I don’t really consider myself a “Foodie.” There are too many concepts I'm totally ignorant of that are old news to most Foodies. For instance, the whole concept of deconstructed cooking was foreign to me until started watching the show.

Given the large number of ingredients Microsoft uses to create our online services, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the main groups that combine to deliver Bing, courtesy of our OSD Career Site:

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'Softie in Question: Scott Dart

Job title: Senior Program Manager on the Windows Team.

What part of Windows are you working on?
I could tell you but I’d have to kill you.

Seriously?
Seriously.

So, you oversee this highly classified software program while also playing in a 10-piece funk band?
I play baritone sax for DoctorfunK. We’re a high-energy funk/soul/R&B band with five horns, a rhythm section, and vocals. Our second CD is about to come out and we even played at the Muckleshoot Casino on December 26th with the former lead vocalist of Oakland funk legends Tower of Power.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.
Fortunately, working as a Program Manager at Microsoft is smooth sailing compared to negotiating the rough waters of the music business and band politics.

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Happy new year to everyone! Hope you are all having a great 2010 so far.

I wanted to share a few changes we've got brewing here at JobsBlog for the new year:

Microspotting and JobsBlog merge: Yes, that's right. Two of your favorite Microsoft blogs are now one. :) Back in the fall (before Ariel, Microspotting's founder, left Microsoft), we decided to bring both blogs together onto one site. Actually, it was Ariel's idea, and I think it's a great one. We know the audiences of Microspotting and the traditional JobsBlog can be a bit different so you'll have the option to read the sections together--or separate.

If you want to read both blogs together, continue visiting our main blog site or main blog feed.

If you just want Microspotting, you can pass go and skip directly to the Microspotting page or Microspotting feed.

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Happy birthday to our Silicon Valley campus who turned 10 last week. Our largest U.S. campus outside of Redmond, Microsoft Silicon Valley (MSV) is now home to 1300 employees (with 2000 total in the Bay Area) working on products like Mediaroom, Windows Live, Bing, Xbox, Microsoft for Mac, PowerPoint and more. You can find out more about the culture and jobs (yes, we are hiring) at Microsoft Careers: Silicon Valley. 

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