This is part 2 of 3 on what you know know about writing and having a job-related blog or website.  Part 1 is located here. Privacy Issues Should potential employers be reading your personal information? Probably not. However, if you put it on the Internet with it readily accessible, well then they can and they might. Some people list their personal web site or blog on their resume and most of us recruiters will look you up on any of...
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This is part 1 of 3 on what you know know about writing and having a job-related blog or website. Getting Started Employees have been fired when their employer views their blog posts as sharing confidential information, making inappropriate comments about the company, or both. Posting company news, pictures, and even making positive comments about a company have cost bloggers their jobs.  When considering writing a blog, before writing ...
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I titled this blog post for developers, however, I believe it’s sound advice for anyone writing a resume.   What jobseekers need to keep in mind is that skilled recruiters are masters of Boolean logic.  We use it in search engines, metasearch engines and job boards.  I use it to find people’s profiles, blogs and resumes on your webpage.  So how is this information helpful???  The data in these mediums...
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Dear Candidate: When I like your resume enough to pull you out of our database and we’ve arranged a time to talk on the phone, I hope you’ll to be prepared to talk to me.   When I ask you to “tell me about yourself,” I hope you’ll be ready for the question.   There should not be a long, uncomfortable silence from you when I ask this. When you get on the phone during...
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One of the great things about Microsoft is our commitment to growing our employees’ careers.  Career development is an on-going priority at Microsoft.  However, to ensure everyone has the tools and structure to grow, we also have a formal process where we focus on career development.    March is when we hold our Midyear Career Discussions.  This is a time where each of our employees takes time to think about...
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Continuing from yesterday’s post my day with Bing. ·         I rejoined Twitter ( Follow me!) and I did a search on Bing to find people on Twitter that have “machine learning” in their bio so that I can follow them.  Why?  I have lots of jobs for people with machine learning skills that I need to quickly build my network so I am using the power of social media to do it...
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As a Microsoftie it sometimes feels like we  are obligated to use the products (or at least pretend we do), but when it comes to Bing I willingly drink the Kool-Aid and eat the dog food on this one.  Actually, I feel like I never close the Bing.com tab on my browser because I am always using it.  Since it’s not a search engine but a decision engine (!!!!!), I decided to keep a journal today of what I went there to do.  ...
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I have spent a total of almost 9 years working for prominent IT companies and I’m in the middle of my 3rd week at Microsoft.  What makes Microsoft unique?  What is unique to Recruiting at Microsoft?  I could fill countless pages of information on this topic, but let me try to summarize on a few things stand out to me.  It may sound like lip service, but the most amazing thing about Microsoft is the people.  I feel...
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One of our blog readers asked how he can prep for his upcoming Microsoft interview.  There is a ton of information online and I have provided some of those links below, but here are some tips I give my candidates (thanks to some of my fellow recruiters who have helped articulate the tips so well): Brush up on your programming skills, including algorithms and data structures.  Yes, we may ask you about computer science principles from...
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I just have to share my new online obsession. I had a baby 5 months ago so it’s no longer convenient to use my laptop at all times like it used to be. So last Wednesday night I was sitting on the couch with the baby on my lap, the iPad had just been launched and I was watching the State of the Union on TV. I was curious to see what the general reaction to both was and didn’t really feel like browsing multiple sites through my...
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