March 13, 2010

Grooming new hires with Microsoft's MACH program

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Anyone who's been through an interview for a full-time job at Microsoft knows that the process is one of the most rigorous you'll ever encounter. Full of problem-solving questions and riddles, the sometimes day-long interviews are designed to keep you off balance and see whether you understand logic under stressful situations.

The process can be intimidating even for experienced tech workers who may not be used to Microsoft's way of thinking. However, for those well-educated applicants who have recently earned undergraduate or graduate degrees, but do not yet have much practical experience, Microsoft has a special program that can give them a leg up.

Called the Microsoft Academy for College Hires, or MACH, the program recruits the best and brightest students from around the world for positions in sales, marketing, services, IT and finance departments within the vast Microsoft empire. Once chosen, MACH participants are treated as full-time employees at Microsoft and are given up to two years of technical, on-the-job training and mentorship.

"The first year is focused mostly on moving participants from the academic environment to a corporate Microsoft environment and learning how to work effectively with others," says MACH program director Ana White. By the second year, she says, MACH enrollees go through career coaching and peer reviews to help them determine which career path in the company will best suite their needs. Once a path is determined, the MACH students can choose mentors whom they can "shadow" to learn more about the job's duties and responsibilities.

Since the program began in 2005, about 2,000 people have gone through the process, White says. Many of the MACH graduates, she adds, have gone on to reach director-level status within Microsoft and continue to act as mentors for new MACH participants.

While the program is a great opportunity for the many talented would-be engineers in the region, the main drawback, of course, is the intense competition, which includes not just the large Seattle tech community but the entire world--to date, the global MACH program has made hires from 60 countries. White did not have figures on how many people apply to the program each year but said that the program--amazingly--has shown no change in enrollees despite the current economy.

Still, there are some people from the Puget Sound region who have made it through the program and done quite well in their new careers. For example, Erin O'Donnell, a MACH grad from June 2008, now holds the position of media specialist with Microsoft's Consumer & Online--Small & Medium Business Advertising unit, a job that matched both her analytical and creative skills.

"I get to be an advocate for customers that are mom and pops, and use my creative abilities to help drive their businesses," says the Issaquah native. "By far the biggest thing MACH gave me, beside confidence that the company's leaders supported my ideas, was networking." Today, O'Donnell says she has a global network of contacts through the program with whom she can discuss various challenges and other job opportunities with the company.

Another Seattle-area native and MACH '08 grad, Joseph Ibarra, now holds the title of program manager of the Information Security department. "I've seen alumni at the MACH events, people who have accelerated quickly throughout the company and won some of Microsoft's most prestigious awards," he says. "It's really inspirational seeing people come to the company and have a huge influence. It shows it can be done even at a company with so many people."

To apply for the MACH program, enrollees must have earned either their undergraduate degrees within 12 months of applying or their graduate degree within six months. For more information, visit Microsoft's career page. The company also has Microsoft-specific job hunting, resume-building and interviewing tips at its JobsBlog.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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IT, recruiting, software

1 Comments

Laura on June 20, 2011 9:22 PM | Reply

Hi Randy! I didn't realise the interview process was so intense. I guess it's a good way to ensure that people applying for the job really are interested. Thanks for sharing this with us!

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