Microsoft

Marketing Manager Intern

May - August 2020 • Silver Spring, MD

What I liked

I loved the autonomy of my project because it encouraged me to reach out to other teams. I networked a lot and met so many different areas of marketing even as a virtual intern. My manager and the rest of the team were the best and we fostered amazing relationships.

What I wish was different

I wish I experienced my internship in Seattle, but due to the virus, I completed it online. Other than that, I had an amazing internship and wouldn't change anything.

Advice

Make sure to stay connected to all your team members.

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Software Engineering Intern

June - September 2020 • Houston, TX

What I liked

I liked the chance to get hands-on experience writing software for the cloud and connecting with people working in a variety of different fields within Microsoft.

What I wish was different

This is pretty obvious but I wish I had been able to be back in Seattle in person. However, we were able to have all the same events and meetups as last year, only virtually!

Advice

Microsoft is a huge company so don't limit yourself to any one area. As an intern, you are encouraged to speak to anyone who is available from any business area, so feel free to explore and meet new people.

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Program Manager Intern

May - August 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

The flexibility and ability to be creative

What I wish was different

The remote experience was difficult to meet other interns, but Microsoft tried their best

Advice

Your experience will be what you make of it. Try to go to every event if you can!

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Explorer Intern

May - August 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

I really enjoyed the team of people I got to work with. I was partnered with another Explore intern and from there we had 2 mentors and our direct boss. They were all lovely to work with and eager to help my partner and I whenever we needed.

What I wish was different

Unfortunately it was a remote internship due to COVID-19. They did their best to make the internship exciting despite that, but I feel that there was still something missing.

Advice

The interview process can be a bit frightening, especially as this internship is targeted towards college freshmen and sophomores who likely have not had a big internship before. Be prepared for coding questions, although not everyone who applies for this position will be asked to code for the interviewer, Be prepared with talking points on your resume, and most of all at least act confident. If you seem like you know what you are doing and you are enthusiastic about the position your interviews will go well.

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Cloud Operations Intern

May - August 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

The employees were very helpful and insightful.

What I wish was different

I was working remotely, and the 3 hour time zone made it more difficult to contact people immediately when I needed them or had a question.

Advice

Talk to as many people as possible during your internship - they all give you great advice on your project, college, and career path.

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Software Engineering Intern

May - July 2020 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

I really enjoyed the relaxed culture and the flexibility to connect with other teams and interns daily. Also, I enjoy the diverse kinds of projects and problems that are being solved at Microsoft.

What I wish was different

I wish we would have been able to go to Seattle and experience the culture in-person and I wish there were more people that look like me there.

Advice

BUILD CONNECTIONS

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Software Engineering Intern

June - August 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

I believe Microsoft handled the remote experience well. All the necessary equipment was shipped to interns just before their start date to ensure a smooth onboarding experience. Having interned at the Redmond campus in 2019, I still felt that there were plenty of virtual events specifically for interns and other opportunities to socialize with other interns and teams this year.

What I wish was different

More clarity on the team change process earlier in the summer would have been nicer for interns who were likely to receive return offers. By the time we got more information, it was too late, at least for me and other interns in my batch, to network and find openings on other teams.

Advice

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Software Engineer Intern

May - July 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

Team, onboarding experience.

What I wish was different

In-person instead of online, on a team which works on something I am more interested in (e.g. Hololens), difficulty of finding information internally.

Advice

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Mentee

July - August 2020 • New York City, NY

What I liked

The hackathon at the end was a great way to get to know your colleagues in the mentorship. The mentors were also very friendly and excited to help in anyway possible in your academic career.

What I wish was different

I wish it had been longer

Advice

Take your time in the mentorship program, the 6 weeks fly by. Definitely try to network and connect with everyone you can during the program.

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Supply Chain Planner Intern

May - August 2020 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

Microsoft did a great job transitioning to the virtual environment while also providing an internship experience full of growing my knowledge in supply chain and expanding my connections. Being able to have a designated mentor throughout the internship was very valuable and the opportunities Microsoft provided to meet other interns/team members were appreciated.

What I wish was different

Only thing I wish had been different was completing the internship in person (obviously, this was not possible due to the COVID pandemic, but still very grateful I had the opportunity to intern at a company like Microsoft).

Advice

One piece of advice I'd share about this experience is to manage your time properly throughout your internship. Allocate your time wisely between your projects and networking meetings because 12 weeks comes quicker than you would imagine.

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Explore Intern

May - August 2020 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

Extremely inviting culture. Everyone was driven to do their best work.

What I wish was different

My experience was remote, wish it was in person

Advice

Security is often overlooked, but is a great field within software engineering!

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explorer intern

May - August 2019 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

great company!

What I wish was different

More of an impact

Advice

Highly recommend

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Software Engineer

May - August 2019 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

It was a fun learning experience

What I wish was different

The company was a little old fashioned in how they managed people

Advice

Just get out and apply for everything

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Software Developer Intern

May - August 2014 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

It made everything I was learning in classes crystal clear. Moving from a classroom to an office also showed me how much I didn't know, and I was given the opportunity to fill in those gaps with the help from my mentor.

What I wish was different

I wish that there was room given to allow each role (PM, SDE, SDET) a week to try the other positions available. It would have been nice to see what other people were experiencing for their internships.

Advice

Don't be afraid to tackle a project larger than you think you can handle. If you're only doing what you think you can do, then you're failing yourself in the chance push yourself into the realm of uncomfortable that this role should be.

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Product advisor

October 2017 - August 2018 • Schaumburg, IL

What I liked

The environment, culture and benefits

What I wish was different

Nothing

Advice

Be yourself and have an open to grow mindset. Don't be afraid to take on new tasks outside of your comfort zone

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Software Development Intern

July - August 2018 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

I had a wonderful experience this summer and have chosen to come back for Summer of 2019. I was given a large amount of freedom in my project and participated in the entire shipping process from designing my feature to shipping to production. I was fully integrated into the team culture and participated in meetings like everyone else on my team. It made me feel like a full time employee. I was able to ship my code 100% to production, which was very rewarding!

What I wish was different

Nothing comes to mind.

Advice

Don't just do what is asked of you - ask your team members and manager what you can do to take your project further.

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Explore Intern

May - August 2019 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

Basically everything! Everyone was really nice, and I had a lot of support from my team and mentors. I was also given a lot of freedom to work from different locations and attend fun work events!

What I wish was different

I wish that my team was located on main campus!

Advice

Don't be intimidated to reach out to anyone at the place that you work at, everyone wants to help you.

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Explore Intern

May - August 2019 • Redmond, WA

What I liked

I loved being able to work with two other interns in a group. My "pod" mates and I became very close. It was a lot easier navigating the new work environment with people that were the same age as you. I loved how laid back everyone was. My teammates, mentors, and manager were all there to support me and my pod mates. Towards the end of the internship we had team bonding events where we got lunch in downtown Bellevue and went to the movies together. My experience at Microsoft taught me how to highlight my strengths and improve my weaknesses. It taught me programming skills as well as interpersonal and analytical problem solving skills. Not only did I genuinely look forward to going to work each morning, I also enjoyed the work life balance that Microsoft reminds their employees to have. The Seattle-Redmond area was beautiful over the summer, and I did my fair share of exploring with my newly made friends. Overall it was an amazing experience and I look forward to returning as a software engineering intern this summer.

What I wish was different

Frankly, I wouldn't change a thing about my internship. I learned from every mistake I made along the way, and grew as both a person and programmer because of it.

Advice

My advice is to network like crazy. As an intern you have access to everyone's email; you have the opportunity to meet anyone in the whole company! Everyone has an amazing story to share. I feel like I learned the most just from talking to my mentors and asking them about their life experiences. It's so easy to email someone and ask them to grab lunch or a quick coffee with you before work, I would capitalize on that opportunity to grow your network and learn something new.

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Software Engineering Intern

May - August 2019 • Bellevue, WA

What I liked

What I wish was different

Advice

For many, moving to the other side of the country was really difficult. Make sure this is something you keep in mind for both internships and full time!

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