Gretchen takes hiring managers to the woodshed

Rants can be some of the most liberating things. There is a line somewhere, which varies for every blogger and every topic, of course. But at least they are a hoot to read, and can be instructive.

Take Gretchen’s rant over on her JobsBlog. Absolutely takes MS hiring managers to the woodshed. I can see where some of this is coming from – if you are having a hard time finding a quality candidate, the first place you go to place blame is on recruiting (unfair though it may be, that’s reality). And I have no doubt many hiring managers absolutely believe they could do a better job of finding good candidates if left to their own devices.

Tough job, recruiting. I don’t envy those who do it. Especially in a place like MS where we have this expectation that the best and brightest are always flocking to work for us (Mini-Microsoft always has some rather, ah, pointed commentary on the validity of this belief).

Gretchen does bring up some valid bits of reality:

1)  Microsoft isn’t the only place hiring
Very true. Even in a not so great job market, just go peek around the Job section on Seattle24×7 and you’ll see lots of new posts. And that’s just locally.

2) Working at a big company isn’t everyone’s dream
Very VERY true. MS still claims to want the young, ambitious, entreprenuerial type. But in reality our benefits and org are geared towards the play-it-safe, looking for stability, thirtysomething with 2 kids type. This has been a vast culture change just in the time I’ve been with the company (1998). One of my best Student Ambassadors declined TWO job offers from great groups at MS this spring, in order to take one at Google, for just that reason – she felt she was young enough, with no tie-downs, to take more of a risk. Although I would argue working at Google is far from the “risky startup” proposition anymore, but you get my point. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – we are 57,000 strong, have “big company” needs for process and efficiency, and openly track against IBM as a top competitor. So hiring big company types to a certain degree is understandable, and needed. But except in limited cases, we just are no longer the kind of company that attracts the wild risk-takers right out of school who want to change the world. Good or bad, your call. It simply means we have to expect different kinds of job candidates, and different behavior by the company as a whole over the long run.

For marketers – if you want to work on major marketing campaigns, with a v-team of dozens (or hundreds) and multi-mil budgets, welcome aboard. Or if you want to specialize in some specific discipline or segment (like I’ve been doing on community and now academia), this is a fantastic place. Our size and resources enable us to experiment with an awful lot of marketing projects and programs – everything from RSS ads to blogs to viral to whatever, at least 10 different marketing orgs at this company are probably doing it at any given time. Plus ANYTHING you do will have massive and instant visibility in the marketplace, for better or for worse. Once you’re in (and do a good job) there are awesome opportunities to move around laterally and try out new disciplines, new segments, and new products (like from Windows Server technical product management to developer community).

It really is a candy store of cool marketing opportunities. However, except in very limited cases, you won’t get the small shop experience of being “the one guy” who runs marketing. I’ve been there, and it’s a blast, as is being a more niche role player at a big company. Pros and cons to both, pick your passion.

3)  Redmond is not the first place people say they want to move when they wake up in the morning. 
For me, this wasn’t a big deal. I was living in Oregon at the time I got the offer, so I was accostomed to the Pacific Northwest lifestyle (and loving it…still do). Lots of trees, green, outdoors, mountains, rivers, and awesome skiing 45 minutes away from anywhere you happen to be. Lots of rain and gloom too though, so the sun worshipers are going to have a hard time. Except for the already outdoorsy types, people come here for the jobs or family, and deal with the weather. Versus San Diego, perhaps, where people go FOR the weather and IN SPITE of jobs or family, perhaps. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. :)