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In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

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Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#171

Post by vacri »

ownagefool wrote: post #73
jmduke wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although things were done differently than they are done in Silicon Valley, the difference is not necessarily bad, perhaps more eye-opening. This is how MOST computer science majors spend their careers. Not mastering MongoDB, collaborating on Google Spreadsheets, or posting things to HN, but using Windows XP, Visual Studio, and Microsoft Word 2003 on a 2008 Lenovo laptop. And MS is perfectly happy taking their money.…

There's a ton of wrong with that statements tone, not that I think the author meant it that way, but I'll point it out regardless: #1 - The majority of HN seems to involve typical latests web crud app fads. It's probably also not that interesting to *nix system developers either, though many might read it for the apps being created as opposed to the how. #2 - Having MongoDB on your CV generally means you're developin…

All these things are fine, except for the suggested Microsoft culture of not knowing what's out there, what the competition is doing. If you don't at least keep one eye on what's going on, then you're not going to see other people's mistakes and learn from them.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#172

Post by myko »

cobrausn wrote: post #116
infinitone wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is Microsoft slow and steady when he just told you they have poor code quality, no docs, etc.

Where did he mention poor code quality? Out of date documentation is all I see mentioned.

He mentioned copy/pasting code and skipping reviews were popular things to do. The first one is definitely a sign of poor code quality, and the second isn't as definite but is surely a practice that makes room for poor code quality.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#174

Post by bencxr »

benched wrote: post #148
rmah wrote: post #119

I'm not sure where to start. This is a person at his first job out of college and he's been there for less than a year (two if we're being generous). And yet he has the audacity to say "I learned that one will see this sort of problems in all large scale companies."? Really? This is absurd. I can't wrap my head around the sort of arrogance and myopia that makes a 21 or 22 yr old think that he can describe an entire w…

I was at Microsoft for 5 years, in a completely different group from the OP. My experience matched his exactly, in character and specifics.

one of the things i liked about Microsoft is that you can move teams (pretty) easily. i myself have had different experiences/practices in both the teams i was a part of.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#175

Post by alpb »

spiderPig wrote: post #107
papercruncher wrote: post #27

I spent 5 years at Microsoft as a dev and share almost none of the author's sentiments. I had very few meetings, my manager went out of his way to make sure that I was not blocked, code reviews were mandatory, blogging on technical aspects was ok, had ample free time to work on any side project I wanted (even encouraged to work with MSR on things that were more researchy), etc etc... I could go on for a while. Sure,…

Also, worthwhile to note that this guy is an SDET and not an SDE at Microsoft. VAST difference in quality between the two disciplines.

Hey there, author of the post here. Yes I believe there are different realities in Dev and Test organizations and this may be the pure source of my experience (in both positive and negative aspects). Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#177

Post by hammock »

venomsnake wrote: post #156
coldtea wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Publishing something that HR/PR can consider slander under your real name while being junior developer is not a recipe for stable employment. These guys tend to freak out over minor stuff like that. That's to me the equivalent of saying: "sitting on the front of the bus, as a black person, is a recipe for trouble". Not in the sense that it's racist, of course. But that it trivialises a problematic situation, and as…

Okay - I will elaborate a bit. Fortune 500 companies tend to be trigger happy lately and not backing their employees. You saw what happened with the #dealwithit guy. And that was for sentiment the whole company backs because it just happened to be true. If Snowden did not leave the US so fast we would all agree that this would have been stupid. Not the leak but not taking the basic precautions. Also he is not having…

> Fortune 500 companies tend to be trigger happy lately and not backing their employees.

All the more reason to speak his mind rather than try and feign some sort of loyalty to the man, which will never be returned.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#178

Post by Sindrome »

Sounds about right to me. You leave university with an understanding of how things should be done. But reality is nothing like that. Adapt and move forward.

I would like to offer one other realization that you need to make early on. Your bosses are your bosses because they are better at playing politics than the people that came before them, not because they are more skilled or talented. The best part of working for a large selective company like MS is that you get to work with skilled/talented Type A personalities. Start building your rolodex. This way when you want to move into a director position or start a company you are miles ahead of everyone else.

Cheers!

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#179

Post by DrJokepu »

kryten wrote: post #160
DrJokepu wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually yes, it's called a bonus.

I get a hefty one of them as well. What's your point? I don't expect one. My basic salary is what I expect.

Employers hand out bonuses to incentivise enployees to stay. Employees do unpaid overtime to incentivise employers to keep them. My point is that they are fundamentally similar concepts. It's great that you're in a position where your employer wants to incentivise you to stay around by giving you bonuses yet you don't need to do overtime to keep your job. I'm also in a similar position. Some people aren't, and this has nothing to do with European work culture or work ethics. It's supply and demand.

Re: In 8 months at Microsoft, I learned these things

#180

Post by katbyte »

coldtea wrote: post #127
rmah wrote: post #119

I'm not sure where to start. This is a person at his first job out of college and he's been there for less than a year (two if we're being generous). And yet he has the audacity to say "I learned that one will see this sort of problems in all large scale companies."? Really? This is absurd. I can't wrap my head around the sort of arrogance and myopia that makes a 21 or 22 yr old think that he can describe an entire w…

> This is a person at his first job out of college and he's been there for less than a year. And yet he has the audacity to say "I learned that one will see this sort of problems in all large scale companies."? Really? This is absurd. Can you just learn from his experience that he describes, and get over an inconsequential phrase at a tiny part of the post? Even if it's not applicable "everywhere", it's a nice descri…

> Are you fucking kidding me? That's what 21 year olds do.

Not all, i have the pleasure of working with some 20-22 year olds who would be very unlikely to make such a statement.

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