For those college kids out there, how did you get your job with Microsoft?
AW: I was lucky because Microsoft came to me. We send recruiters out to college campuses around the country to participate in college fairs and recruit future graduates. I spent some time discussing the culture and the job opportunities with Microsoft employees who'd graduated from my alma mater, and I was convinced. More information about opportunities and local college visits can be found Here.
This year, I participated in the recruitment process from the other side of the fence, which I think bears an interesting perspective. For all the college kids out there: It's not just about the detailed questions you ask and how well you think you know the company, don't just try to impress me or name-drop your former internships. The candidates that were most intriguing demonstrated an authentic enthusiasm for communications technology and the job field they were applying for, which speaks wonders to the culture of our organization.
You and Brickfish are working together under the "I'm A PC" campaign. Would you please tell us how exactly you guys got in contact and how you came up with the idea of using the Internet to virally market?
MC: We teamed up with Brickfish to add more social media elements to our "I'm a PC" campaign. One of our overarching goals of the campaign was to connect with our customers and the web is a perfect medium for fostering an ongoing conversation. This particular project invited people to submit photos or videos that express how each person "is a PC." The most creative entries will win prizes ranging from a fully loaded Alienware M17 laptop to an Xbox 360 console and a $250 gift card to Xbox.com.
Tell us a little bit about the "Life Without Walls" campaign, the "I'm A PC" campaign, and the "Mojave Experiment" campaign. What are the goals of each campaign, and are they working so far?
MC: We had a few goals when we rolled out the various campaigns earlier this year and while it's too soon to share specific results we are very encouraged by the reception we've received from our customers. The purpose of the "Life Without Walls" campaign is to actually use Windows as a metaphor for showcasing how the product is an indispensible part of the lives of a billion people around the globe — it helps remove the walls in your life (work, play, communicate, connect) and remove the walls between the technologies you use (desktop, laptop, phone, Web). With Real PC, our goal is to shift the conversation, to tell our story and instill a sense of pride among Windows and PC users. The Mojave Experiment is designed to address the perceptions in the marketplace about Vista that are out-dated. If you look at data from the last six months, customer satisfaction levels are high among people with Vista, so Mojave is a way to demonstrate the true value of the product.
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