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Why did I leave a job at my dream company Microsoft?
This is a question that I still get after leaving Microsoft over three years ago, and so I thought of articulating my answer in this article.
Like most technology enthusiasts, Microsoft was my dream company since I had developed a passion for technology. Being a 90’s kid from India, the first computer I have ever used had Windows 98. Since then, the iconic Windows boot-up music, Microsoft logo and even the desktop background literally gave me goosebumps every time I started the computer. It is because of this strong association with Microsoft Windows from my childhood that I developed an ambition to work for this great company. I have massive respect for Bill Gates and Microsoft for realizing their mission of putting a computer at every desk, which seemed unrealistic back in 1985, but now existence without computers appears to be impossible!
Fast forward a few years, when I was doing my engineering, Microsoft visited my University for an internship opportunity. More than 5000 students had applied and after five rigorous rounds of interviews, I was one of the fifteen candidates who got selected for an internship at Microsoft! And guess what, the day when I got selected after the final round of interviews, happens to be my birthday! Trust me, it was not how you would like to spend your birthday. But the news of my selection for the internship still happens to be one of my favorite birthday gifts as I really wanted it!
My internship experience at Microsoft was like a fairy tale. I was mesmerized by the Microsoft campus and office buildings in Hyderabad. A very comfortable hotel stay, complimentary food, plenty of recreational activities like pool, table tennis, lawn tennis, volleyball, basketball, football, cricket, Xbox gaming room, foosball … the list goes on and on! All my colleagues were fantastic and fun-loving people, and best of all, I learnt a lot about Cloud computing (Azure), backend software development, Power Bi, IoT, Machine Learning and Computer Vision applications in just a few days! A got many cultural trainings…
