Washington

I visited Seattle in Washington (state) for a long weekend to attend an interview with Microsoft as I was nearing graduation.

I had a head cold on the flight over and could not clear my ears when the first leg landed in Chicago which was incredibly painful. The same repeated itself on the next leg from Chicago to Seattle. I felt like my head was in a bubble for the next month.

Needless to say, I was not feeling sharp on the day of the interview. As I was graduating salutatorian (which is a fancy way of saying ranked 2nd in my class), I expect Microsoft had high expectations for my future. I know I did. The full day of interviews didn’t go very well. I could see myself that I was not impressing them as I did not even feel motivated to answer their brain teasers.

They responded quickly when I returned to Boston that they did not think this was a good fit. Despite my embarrassment, I actually agreed, and I was a bit relieved that I would not have to decide if I was willing to turn down an offer.

Aside from being intelligent, all the Microsoft employees I spoke with had a strong sense of competitiveness. I don’t work well in such conditions. It’s easy to imagine that, had I gotten in and succeeded at Microsoft, I could have become a multi-millionaire and have lived a very different life. In all the interactions I’ve had professionally with Microsoft employees since, however, I think it’s more likely that I would not have lasted long.

I did manage, despite my head cold, to walk around Seattle with my camera. The only pictures I took that I liked, however, were of the purple hydrant and the bike shop that was painted in matching colors.