My Work Placement at Microsoft

In this blog, I will describe how I got my work placement at Microsoft through the University of Huddersfield. I will talk about what I learnt and why I think you should consider doing a work placement.

Setting an intention and getting started

When I came to the UK from Pakistan for higher education, I had set an intention to take a year out to gain industry experience so I could learn how my degree was relevant in the real world.

I chose the “sandwich” degree which meant I would get a four-year visa instead of three so I could take a year out for an industry placement. However, if you don’t choose a “sandwich” degree and decide later to go on a work placement you can always get your visa extended. As a Student visa holder you can complete a work placement as part of your study in the UK.

The University of Huddersfield encourages work placements and real-world experience. The University has contacts all over the world and with some of the largest organisations in the world. All undergraduate students at the University of Huddersfield have the opportunity to undertake professional work-related experience during their studies, and doing a placement significantly increases your chances of getting a job after graduation. 

I started my placement search in my second year with the Business School Placement Unit at the University of Huddersfield. I got my CV reviewed by the Business School Placement unit and if I had any issues or difficulties on any application, the staff would help me.

After browsing for a few days, I found out that Microsoft was looking for interns and I was super excited yet very nervous to apply for this global tech company. However, I have always been up for a challenge and expanding my wings. After completing an application form, I was invited to a Skype interview and after completing their assessment I was finally able to secure the placement that I wanted at Microsoft.

My department and day-to-day role

I was offered a placement in the Operations stream in a department called Customer Services and Support. The purpose of my job was to try to improve the existing Microsoft processes to provide a more consistent customer support as customer-centricity is at the heart of Microsoft.

I got involved in the Customer Experience Delivery (CXD) workstream which helps Microsoft provide a more consistent customer support. In addition, I led the implementation of a change strategy to increase the collaboration within the Customer Service and Support by initiatives like Voice of the Advocate (VOA) where feedback from the advocate was incorporated in the Microsoft processes to provide a more consistent customer support.

Placements allow you to work with different departments

After I settled down in my day-to-day role, I wanted to collaborate with the Customer Success Unit at Microsoft to learn first-hand from the customers and as Microsoft takes this oneness approach where different departments within Microsoft come together and work with each other collaborating, it gave me a really holistic idea about the wider Microsoft business and helped me further develop my customer skills, communications and stakeholder management skills.

Collaborating with the Customer Success Unit (CSU) has been one of the top highlights where I was able to help fulfil my passion of customer success and work with customers like The NatWest Group and Yorkshire Building Society to rapidly adapt to new ways of working and making the Microsoft Teams adoption journey less daunting for them. I delivered live training and created a rapid adoption Teams pack to speed up the adoption journey. Running Hackathons alongside Customer Success Managers to find a sustainable solution using Microsoft 365 has been a very fulfilling experience and helped me realise that Customer Success type roles are what I am interested in the most. This real-world experience has helped give me direction for my future career.

 

Developing my skills during my work placement

I am a very passionate public speaker and love expressing myself through words. I have always wanted to work for a company where alongside my job I could continue to do things that I am passionate about and Microsoft encourages you to fulfil your passion and give back to the community.

I joined an international public speaking club called Toastmasters International where we met each week and practised different public speaking skills such as impromptu speaking, prepared speeches, complete different levels and earn certifications. While on placement, I delivered nine prepared speeches and completed my Toastmasters International Level 3. The highlight was when I gathered the courage and went to an external club to deliver a presentation and won “The best Speakers Award” at The Windsor Speakers Club.

I'm grateful that this work placement allowed me to express myself and allowed me to develop my public speaking skills.

Volunteering at Microsoft

I'm passionate about giving back to the community, Microsoft have a variety of volunteering opportunities one can get involved in. I had a fantastic opportunity to volunteer at BETT2020 which is an educational event where people from all around the world come to discuss, inspire and celebrate the future of education, as well as seeing how technology and innovation enables educators and learners to thrive. Being at Microsoft stalls and the Training Academy, I enjoyed helping people learn how to become a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) and how Microsoft provides a range of fun and educational tech to bring innovation into classrooms.

Doing a work placement can be very fulfilling, for example, it was an absolute pleasure to volunteer at DigiGirlz and welcome over 100 year 8 girls at Microsoft. It was fulfilling to see the girls leaving the day feeling inspired by what the tech industry has to offer and the impact women can have in the tech industry. It was really inspiring to see these girls build their own sustainable solution with the Micro:bit and come up with brilliant ideas to solve several different problems!

Fellow University of Huddersfield student Amrit also wrote about this in her blog My year in industry at Microsoft.

Learning about accessibility via completing my Accessibility in Action training and then presenting about it to wider Microsoft audience about new Accessibility features and how Microsoft makes its products and services accessible to all.

I also had an amazing time volunteering at the Tech Pathway event where 50 students from several different schools came in to learn about careers in technology and future opportunities where I was a panellist and helped them learn through my journey being an international student.

You can earn Certifications and Awards while on placement

Microsoft offers a wide range of certifications and exams you could choose from depending on what you would like to learn. I was very interested in learning about Artificial intelligence (AI), Power Platform and Microsoft 365 suits which is why I embarked on a learning journey where I got to take the following exams and certifications:

1. Microsoft INSEAD AI BUSINESS SCHOOL
2. Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Fundamentals
3. Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals
4. Accessibility in Action Training
5. CSS trainer
6. Toastmasters Pathway level 3
7. Microsoft Innovator Educator (MIE)
8. Best Speaker’s Award given by The Windsor Speakers Club
9. LinkedIn Wizard award given by the Intern community for my active engagement on LinkedIn

Learnings and Advice about a work placement

• Don’t degrade yourself and do not be hard on yourself. Getting rejected is ok and I have learned this a very hard way. Believe that better things are coming if you keep working hard.
• It’s not always your fault. Some thing’s are not meant to work, instead of over analysing it, focus on the positives.
• It’s okay to make mistakes! Learn from them and be a better version of yourself.
• Do not compare yourself to others. We all have a different pace of learning and comparing yourself with others might hurt your mental health.
• Learn to say no. I have come from a culture where we usually don’t like to say NO and often tend to over-commit ourselves. It is better to say no than to compromise the quality of the work
• A mentor at Microsoft told me “You don’t get help if you don't ask for it” Please ask for help if you need it.

Conclusion

No matter how small or big the company is a placement will help you better prepare for the future and give you the feel of what it’s like to work in a “real world” environment. It will give you a better understanding of the world and the things you like and don’t like to do which will help you find your right direction! You can read more about Ariba's placement, including the application process, the challenges and the prospects on Rate My Placement.