In most of the hiring loops that I’ve been involved with (“Loops” are a fancy term for the interviewing process for multiple candidates in a day, usually around 4-5) there are more internal candidates than there are external. Most job roles have 200 to 300 applicants, meaning there are that many resumes to process. Internal candidates generally get preference. Also, during the selection first pass, your resume needs to get past a digital filter looking for key words, otherwise you’re likely not considered. Then there’s the manual/human resume screening which reduces things down even more. Of those, I’m told that maybe 25 on the high side get a phone screening. Employee referrals are like an astrisk next to your name getting you past the digital filter but they’re in no way a guarantee for screening.
So if it’s so difficult to get a screening much less secure the role, what’s the best strategy? If I’m being honest I think the best path to success is to play the field. There are hundreds and hundreds of roles that people can fit into. People that get too selective about the role they want will find themselves consistently having very low odds of even getting a callback.
The strategies candidates use for applying to big tech companies is different from smaller employers. Instead of one narrow, specific job, I think it’s better to select the company you want to work for & hone your resume to that. The best way to approach getting into a company like Microsoft is to identify roles that could work for you and apply to them and over time transition to other roles that you think would be a better fit.
One thing that can legitimately increase your odds is an “Informational interview”. This is an informal meeting between yourself and the hiring manager for the role you’re interested in. In order to get one you need someone on the inside that is willing to vouch for you, request such a meeting on your behalf and set up the call based on the hiring managers availability. (Internal employees have access to more information that what is published on the job posting such as who the hiring manager is, so they’d also be the one to look up who that is) This is a lot of work on the MS employee so it’s not something that anyone’s going to do for you for multiple roles – so choose wisely.
BTW, this is nothing new. Going back to the early 90s, I applied to the 4 roles over 6 years before getting an offer. During that time, I networked, discovered other roles I might fit & was advised about other job openings I might be a good fit for, always asking, “Who else should I be speaking to?” … all the while expressing my deep desire to be hired into the company. I had several champions and was even referred to for my 4th (and successful) job interview.
Kurt's Thoughts
Scribblings about dogs, Japanese sake, geeky stuff & Las Vegas from an opinionated Japanese technologist.
Kurt's Thoughts 