Something I've learned from a mistake

A proud 20 yr old, I accepted a job in the distinguished CLR group at Microsoft. As an integral part of Microsoft’s hiring efforts at college I was pampered by my recruiter with lavish events! For practice, I continued interviewing around and receiving offers from IBM, Oracle, NVidea, etc.

I particularly enjoyed a technically challenging 7 hour loop with Amazon.com. The prestige bestowed by the momentous salary was immense. I asked Microsoft to match the offer; they declined claiming they hired me on potential and my newly acquired Masters degree didn’t affect their valuation. Amazon enticed me further citing the challenge of their loose role definition bringing greater breadth. They even pitched their ‘pager duty’ requirement, where developers are paged for urgent production issues, as a James Bond like mission driving quality and ownership. Thirsty to learn I was seduced. I didn’t even consider the hit to Microsoft having kept a position from being filled for a year.

I now see my mistake in joining Amazon.com for the wrong reasons and missing out on 2 years of further growth and learning at Microsoft during a strong economy. At one’s first full time job well defined roles, like Microsoft’s, teach more than Amazon.com’s broad ones replete with randomization. Developers doubling-up as IT support degrades focus and inhibits work-life balance. Most importantly: Microsoft’s less technically grueling interview format seeking to understand the candidate and their career goals to ensure long term compatibility is the right hiring philosophy.

Amazon.com made me recognize the perils of poor leadership that de-motivates even the best employees into un-productivity. This enhanced my respect for quality and visionary leadership over individual intelligence. Amazon.com’s managers aim to have their team produce the maximum output in the short term so they are recognized and rewarded with their next role. I left Amazon for Microsoft after 2 years; indebted to Microsoft I gave them my all. I’m proud of how Microsoft genuinely treats their employees as their most valuable asset, focusing on growing them throughout the year. At Microsoft I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to learn from several great leaders, none more than my immediate manager of 3 years who has taught me so much about values, strategy, tactical skills around influence and execution and most importantly to consistently rally for what one believes is right for the company in the long-term regardless of organizational support and personal reward.