Heh. Robert Scoble apparently
saw my primal
scream over EIF, and noticed my statement about wanting to work for Microsoft.
His statement?
I want people like Andy to work here. Constructive criticism is always
good. Now the ball is in our court to fix the issue. Hey, remember, I told Bill Gates
to split up the company. If I can get hired, Andy has an even better chance.
I am quite flattered, but I'm afraid I apparently don't make the cut. I
have actually applied for positions at Northwestern Mecca, and I never got even
a phone interview. [stifles sob]
I am actually making a very nice living designing data architectures for much smaller
companies. In fact, from what I understand, I'm actually earning more doing this than
I would at Microsoft. So why did I cry myself to sleep when I never got the call from
Bill? It's actually quite simple: I'm a big, fat geek, and Microsoft has done a marvelous
job of presenting itself as Geek Nirvana.
I love technology in general. I will always try out new technologies, and code
up parts I find to be missing/lacking. I want to impress my peers. I love working
around other geeks who challenge me and tell me why my stuff sucks so I will fix it
in order to gain their approval. Microsoft has a shitload of geeks. It's presented
as a tough place to work even if you're a wizard coder. It's also described as
a meritocracy - Impress or Be Forgotten. I honestly don't know if I could survive,
and that is the exact reason why I want to do it (Incidentally, I want to live in
New York City for similar reasons).
Now, in defense of Microsoft, I have to say a couple of things. First, I don't have
a degree in Computer Science - my degree is in Electrical Engineering, and I never
finished my Master's in Biomedical Engineering (there's a whole 'nuther story there!).
Although I am fairly fluent in C/C++, I only write C code when something begs to be
a low-level library - I prefer to work with higher level (read: C#, T-SQL, XML)
languages. I now have a baby daughter, and I swore to spend less time at work and
spend more time with my family - this doesn't sound like it fits with the Microsoft
corporate culture. Finally, Microsoft is the belle of the ball - I know they've got
scads of people who are smarter than me who are also vying for these positions.
So why can't I just forget about it and get on with my life?