Challenges of Testing Data - Is it Really 73°F in Seattle right now? – by Cyril Bouanna

Cyril Bounanna is a Senior Development Lead for the Bing Data Quality and Measurement Team.  Today he presents to us a real-life scenario that software engineers and testers encounter when they are building Bing. *** Software engineers have developed a lot of expertise and solutions to assess code quality. From static analysis to E2E automation, performance benchmarks, or search relevance, we know how to verify if our code does the right...
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Why Should You Talk to a Recruiter, You Ask? I’ll Tell You - by Andrea LaCoy

I think that everyone would agree with the statement that we live in a world that is ever changing and always evolving. The standard way of doing things in the past are being replaced with the better, faster, more efficient versions and this can been seen in almost everything we do. Making a career change is no exception. Gone are the days of reading the ‘Want Ads’ in the newspaper, or dropping off your resume to that potential...
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Scouting For Talent - by Brian Christensen

Working as a Staffing Consultant within Online Services Division here at Microsoft, I am constantly reminded that my job has a lot of similar aspects to sports and trying to put together a team that is set up to win. While watching the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this past weekend, I noticed the intricacies of what it took to put a winning team on the court. Even before teams come together, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that...
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Management Excellence - by Eugenia Sawa

As we head into the NBA Finals, my mind turns to Erik Spoelstra and the unique situation he is in.  With the finals starting tonight, I think about how Erik Spoelstra’s role as head coach of the Miami Heat, a team of very strong individual players each with their own strengths translates to the world of high technology and people management. Understand your players – Understand your team – how they operate as a team, their...
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Confessions of a Data Addict

My name is Andrea and I am a data addict. I admit it – I prefer data driven decisions over gut feeling. I have spent the last three years with the Online Services Division working with Audience data. Audience data is that data that we term as everything after the click. It is the data that takes all the page views and clicks and translates into what our ‘audience’ likes and does not like. One of the things I take great pride in,...
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Testing in the Ad Platform BI Team by Lisa Liu

My name is Lisa, and I am the test manager for the Ad Platform Business Intelligence team.  I have been with Microsoft for 7 years and have been with the Ad Platform BI team for the past three and half years.  I worked in the Exchange Server team for 4 years since joining Microsoft. Prior to that, I worked in IBM as a Java JDK developer for 5 years in Austin, Texas.   I currently manage the Ad Platform Business Intelligence...
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The Top Three Hottest New Majors For A Career In Technology

Have you ever wondered what fields of study are hot right now in the world of technology?  Or maybe you’re starting to think about declaring your major and you’re looking for some real world guidance? It is worth thinking beyond a traditional Computer Science degree or even an Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) program. Microsoft is hiring people with unique backgrounds, some that are new with the inception of...
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