At the Microsoft Redmond
campus, five staffers from
different teams got together
for a chat. They talked about
what it's like to work at
Microsoft and dug in on
subjects like career
development, innovation and
work/life balance. Each
brought their own perspective,
experience and sense of humor
to show what it's really likemore

At the Microsoft Redmond
campus, five staffers from
different teams got together
for a chat. They talked about
what it's like to work at
Microsoft and dug in on
subjects like career
development, innovation and
work/life balance. Each
brought their own perspective,
experience and sense of humor
to show what it's really like
on the inside.

Meet the Panel

The Gamer. Abby loves video
games, running and her
Smartphone. She's a Program
Manager in ACES Game Studio,
one of the Microsoft game
development teams. She started
at Microsoft as an intern and
joined the company in 2003 to
work as a Test
Engineer—and then Test
Lead—at Microsoft Game
Studios on titles like Dungeon
Siege 2 and Forza Motorsport
2. She graduated from UCLA
with a B.S. in Computer
Science.

The Visionary. Blaise is a bit
of a cynic, and somewhat
surprised to end up at a large
software company. He created
Seadragon, a visualization
technology used to give
Photosynth its smooth digital
rendering and zoom
capabilities. Blaise is now an
Architect at Microsoft Live
Labs, a team that brings
scientists, engineers,
entrepreneurs, and the online
community together to think
about and build a better
online world. Blaise graduated
from Princeton University with
a B.A. in Physics and attended
the Ph.D. program there in
Applied Math.

The Entrepreneur. Dennis is a
car nut who likes to 'create
little start-ups at
Microsoft.' He says, 'If you
have a good idea and you can
convince people that it is a
good idea, you can go and
build that thing.' Dennis is a
Senior Technical Lead in the
Server and Tools division, on
a new team building
Internet-facing,
developer-focused
technologies. He came to
Microsoft in 2002 as a Program
Manager for the Windows
Workflow Foundation and
Microsoft Commerce Server
teams. He graduated from Simon
Fraser University with a B.S.
in Computer Science.

The Music Enthusiast. Justin
thinks Microsoft needs beds
and a Laundromat at the office
so he can be there when
inspiration strikes. He's
passionate about music and
loves his crazy office
atmosphere. He's a Software
Development Engineer with Zune
Services, the team developing
the Microsoft digital music
player and software. After an
internship at Google, Justin
joined MSN Music in 2005 and
moved to Zune in 2006. He
graduated from the University
of Waterloo with a Bachelor of
Mathematics; Honours in
Computer Science.

The Social Networker. Outside
work, Rob is a busy
guy—involved in politics,
volunteering in the community,
and preparing to get
married—and he's
constantly working to effect
positive change. At work, he's
a Program Manager with Windows
Live, a social networking team
with the mission to bring
customers closer to the
information and people that
matter most to them. After an
internship in 2001, Rob joined
the Microsoft Office Publisher
team as a Program Manager. He
graduated from the University
of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign with a B.S.
in Civil Engineering and
minors in Math and Computer
Science.

The Media Guy. Were it not
for the draw of serious
adventure, John would still be
working for Microsoft as a
Technical Evangelist. But when
Yahoo! and John's friend,
Richard Bangs, offered him the
chance to be a field producer
and photographer on projects
in countries like Rwanda,
Libya, Bosnia and Switzerland,
he couldn't turn it down.
Currently a Media Production
and Technology Consultant with
MediaSherpa, LLC, John has
worked in the media and
entertainment technology field
for nearly 20 years in a
variety of roles, including
stints as a Technical
Evangelist for Windows eHome
Division and Lead Product
Manager for Microsoft TV
Server.

http://viewmyworld.com

Category Music

Tags Microsoft, career, job, products, skills, entreprenuers, impact, recruiting