The Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job at Microsoft

By Rebecca Smith and Rebecca Smith

The most specialized job search book ever written--for one of the world's most desirable places to work. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071352600
• ISBN13: 9780071352604
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Two BIG Reasons To Read This Book!

So many people are in awe of Microsoft (MS) that, on one level, this book fulfills the basic purpose of telling the reader what the rudiments are of getting a job there. Sure, if you're planning to apply for the job of personal assistant to Bill Gates or establish yourself as the imminent software guru who's going to develop the MS strategic thrust for 2005 -- then this book may be too basic. But, keeping in mind that MS employs lots and LOTS of people, the book is a true getting-started guide which can help someone honestly considering how to get a job at MS -- at multiple levels of the company. (Despite the "Unofficial" word in the book's title, Smith had to have had some critical sources who really KNOW how MS works).Moreover, there's a second reason why this book clicks. So many people admire the company and list it on their most-favored list (and invest in it!), that here's a whole new way to look at the company. By reading about how the employment game works at MS, one can perhaps glean how it is that the company competes and performs. Which makes the book valuable even if you're planning to continue working in automotives or clothing sales.For most people, Microsoft is now a monolith. Smith sought to unlock the basics of how MS hires people. In the main, she succeeds. (There's also a wealth of addresses and links for MS worldwide!)Will everyone who reads this book and applies for a job at MS get hired there? Probably not. Will everyone who reads this book and applies for a job at MS have a better shot at getting employed? Yes.

This is how we should be thinking for the 21st Century

I know people who apply at Microsft obviously have top notch skills. After reading this book, I realized top notch does not mean knowing everything (which is basically what everyone thinks). If I'm good at what I do, I can consider my skills top notch as well. This book gave me the confidence that I am good at what I do and how to capture that in my resume and my interviewing skills. It's this approach that should be adopted all over. This book helps you to focus your job search better, or focus what you want to do for a particular company like Microsoft. And now as a hiring manager, I found the chapters on behavorial interviewing extremely useful. The tips showed me how to probe more effectively the skills my candidates are good at and how they use them; how they apply their ideas and how they think; and that it's okay to have weaknesses as long as they know what they are and how to manage them.If you are looking to interview, go on interviews or change the way your company thinks in interviewing, I would highly recommend you buy this book. The fellow who called this book stupid sounds like he's got a chip on his shoulder. I found his review to be well...unhelpful.

This book delivers!

Author and educator Rebecca Smith's newest book cuts right to the quick. The Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job at Microsoft doesn't mince words. Nor is it filled with fluff. In its tight, concise 192 pages it opens the doors of Microsoft's hiring practices as no other book or reference ever has.All of the book's ten chapters and numerous appendices are significant, insightful and well documented. Readers will want to read and re-read the entire book. However, two chapters need reviewing over and over again: Preparing for Microsoft's Infamous Interviews and Typical Microsoft Interview Questions are chock full of heady, thought-provoking material culled from actual events and actual interviews at Microsoft. McGraw-Hill's editor's report states, "...the book looks at the strategies Microsoft employs to draw the best available people to the company and keep them there for the long term and what these [strategies] mean to the potential job seekers." The greater benefit of The Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job at Microsoft is that it transcends the Microsoft workplace. While the book's focus is absolutely on Microsoft under Smith's microscopic eye, Rebecca Smith goes deeply into the process of the behavioral interview and how Microsoft recruiters use it. Since other companies are adopting this Microsoft hiring model on a daily basis, this book is a must read for anyone interested in working for a high tech - high energy, growth company. Smith's newest book is a true eye-opener. It contains new and highly relevant information and references. If you are looking for a Microsoft recruiter in Morocco, Slovenia or Denmark you'll find the email address and complete contact information in this book. Smith also includes a refresher course on the best ways to get your resume in the right hands at Microsoft, how to get your resume read, and how to keep your qualifications at the top of Microsoft's call list.