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I'm a Microsoft Software Engineer- I've worked on Xbox, Paint 3D and now Cortana: AMA

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How can Microsoft know that i have viruses in Windows on my computer ? They keep ringing up to tell me ?
Reply 21
Avatar for Deyesy
Deyesy
20
Original post by R1C3
Sorry, but what exactly does that have to do with being a Software Engineer?

She's worked for Xbox. I thought it was perfectly legitimate question but anywayyyy...
Reply 22
Avatar for Ikeo
Ikeo
16
Original post by R1C3
Sorry, but what exactly does that have to do with being a Software Engineer?

Because the OP is a female and there are quite large gender discrepancies in this industry, so it is valid. Plus if you read the original post it will tell you that the OP is an "active advocate for diversity and inclusion for women in STEM, which includes video games which in turn are pieces of engineered software
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Ikeo
What advice would you have for someone who is new to this and is wanting to follow in your footsteps?

How many lines of code have you written overall? {estimate}

What languages do you know?

What paradigms do you use?


Hey Ikeo,

If you're new to this then I'd recommend building up good foundational programming knowledge. What I mean by this is that many programming concepts are shared between languages so once you know the foundations then you can pick up other languages easier because it is just syntax. I use mostly object-oriented programming at work, so I suggest learning Java or C# as a first language. These are good languages to start with as they handle some programming complexities that are found in other languages and are frequently used in professional development. C# is frequently used at Microsoft and is one of the main languages for Unity development, while Java is one of the most common languages and is used in Android development. On my Instagram HerHelloWorld, I answer questions similar to these in my FAQ series.

As for how many lines of code I have written, I don't think I could say. Many, many thousands. My main languages are C#, Java, C++, and XAML. I know others, but in my studies and at work those are the languages I use.
Original post by Deyesy
Are women represented well enough in video games and how do feel about the way they are portrayed?

I think games has a long way to go before proper gender equality is reached, but progress is definitely being made! I find many portrayals of women are quite scandalous and have limited character development. However, there are some good examples of proper female characters like in Assassins Creed Syndicate and Fable 3. Female gamers are now half of the gaming market, so the studios are going to have to pay increasing attention to half of their demographic.
Original post by FairyTail101
Prior to working at Microsoft, what experience did you have?

What did you present in the interview that convinced them that you would be a good fit for the team?

Working at Microsoft was my first proper work experience. I joined them as an intern and was hired upon the completion of my internship. That being said, I also had programming experience from studying at university where I made sure to go above and beyond so that I could be competitive in my internship application. I did additional things like join more programming classes for the pure CS students, was a teaching assistant for some of the programming labs, and took a C++ games programming class over the summer. At a junior level, Microsoft hires for potential. My application showed my commitment to a growth mindset, strong foundational programming knowledge, and that my personality would be someone they wanted to work with.
Original post by Holly TSR
Working at Microsoft was my first proper work experience. I joined them as an intern and was hired upon the completion of my internship. That being said, I also had programming experience from studying at university where I made sure to go above and beyond so that I could be competitive in my internship application. I did additional things like join more programming classes for the pure CS students, was a teaching assistant for some of the programming labs, and took a C++ games programming class over the summer. At a junior level, Microsoft hires for potential. My application showed my commitment to a growth mindset, strong foundational programming knowledge, and that my personality would be someone they wanted to work with.

How interesting! Out of curiosity, did you need to provide projects you created at uni/home for your internship?
Original post by JammieDodger27
Whats the best way to start self teaching programming? How can I get into software engineering?

I'd recommend looking up classes on Udemy, edX, freeCodeCamp, etc. You only learn so much from reading a book or watching others program. To really learn to program, you have to create something. My favorite Udemy classes teach you programming concepts and then walk you through creating mock applications, like mock Twitter or mock Flappy Bird. These projects are a good way to combine the concepts together to create something real. If you add your own touches to these projects then they can be good things to put on your GitHub.

Software Engineering is one of those special careers where you don't need a computer science degree or even a degree in general. It is much more about what you know. I'd recommend trying to get as much experience as possible through creating personal projects, creating programs/websites for others, and through internships. They make your application much more competitive. Check out my Instagram HerHelloWorld for some other advice I give in my FAQ series.
Original post by vid cant sing
What the hell why does XBOX have no games? Also why it run so slow and why do I have to go through so many menus to do basic thing?

On a more serious note, why does Microsoft still use resources on Cortana when they have publicly deemed it to be a failure?

Microsoft has doubled down on it's commitment to gamers - it elevated gaming to one of the core pillars of Microsoft's offerings a couple years ago. They have created new game studios and bought others. You should be seeing great things coming to the Xbox and the wider gaming ecosystem soon. :smile:

As for Cortana, Microsoft has also committed to creating a valuable virtual assistant. There are very exciting things coming in the pipeline. Check out the news articles that are starting to come out about some of the things the Cortana team are working on.
Reply 29
Avatar for R1C3
R1C3
15
Original post by Ikeo
if you read the original post it will tell you that the OP is an "active advocate for diversity and inclusion for women in STEM, which includes video games which in turn are pieces of engineered software

If it said "I am a game developer" then fair enough, but it said Software Engineer. Not games specifically- there was also no response from OP at that time to indicate any games development or games programming.
Hence my question.

I once worked as a cook, but that did not mean I worked as a fish, pastry or saucier chef- if you get my analogy.
Cheers.
Original post by 8472
How will AI help with coding and creating software?

ai is like a box you put stuff in it and you take stuff out but ai is a special box because the box can not be opened (i know wierd right) but we put in magical dust known as codez and then we put in numbers and other numbers come out (my cousin says they are called aoutput) its truly awesome :borat:
Why do you think you got into Microsoft? Do you have outstanding projects or very high grades?
Original post by laurawatt
How did you first become interested in software engineering? :grin:


My interest in technology really stemmed from playing video games from a young age. Halo and Crash Bandicoot where my first games I played on Xbox, but I started as a PC gamer. It was from my love of games that I started becoming interested in making my own games. I took a C++ games programming class at DigiPen University (the university where the first Portal game was created by a student and was later sold to Valve). What I love about programming is that you can create almost anything you can imagine from nothing and the scale at which you can influence lives is huge. It is an incredibly empowering industry.
Original post by FairyTail101
How interesting! Out of curiosity, did you need to provide projects you created at uni/home for your internship?

I didn't need to specifically show them my projects in my interview. They were on my GitHub if they wanted to look. I was asked questions about them though to test if I knew what I was talking about and how I handled certain situations.
Original post by shadowdweller
What has your experience been like as a woman in STEM?

What is the workplace culture like at Microsoft?

Why Microsoft over any other company?

(P.S. Also a woman in CompSci :five:)

There are absolutely challenges with being a woman in STEM or a woman in any male-dominated industry. I have experienced multiple instances where people undermine me or insult my level of intelligence simply because I am a woman. When I tell people that I am a software engineer, I often get responses like "So you're actually smart then" or "Oh, you actually have a brain". Their responses imply that they judged my intelligence simply based on how I look and my gender.

That being said the women in STEM and particularly the women in tech community is growing and there have been some amazing results. Women are banding together to help uplift other women in the industry and create opportunities for those who face gender discrimination and lack representation in the industry. It is hugely important that STEM is representative of the world given how much influence it has on our lives. We cannot have a small fraction of people designing for the masses.

The culture at Microsoft in my experience is amazing. I love my team! They are super funny, really clever, and push hard on creating user-friendly, innovative products. Microsoft is working hard to improve its diversity within the company and in the wider industry. As seen in my bio, I participate in many of the gender diversity programs that are internal and external at Microsoft. The work-life balance is also top of the line as they respect their employees and want to have a positive impact on their community.

I love Microsoft. It is one of the few big tech companies that I believe are doing the right thing by their customers and by their community. Microsofties want to make the world a better place and that comes across in the products that we create and the partnerships that we form. It is super important to me that I am not a part of a company that is built on shady practices. Microsoft consistently emphasizes that they are built on trust and that we do not use customer data for profit (unlike many big tech companies). I believe in Microsoft's mission.
Original post by The RAR
How much time should I spend on programming to become a software engineer? Is it necessary to know every programming language out there? I am learning Python currently

I would spend as much time as it takes to get a good grasp of the fundementals of programming and to feel confident with a couple languages. Most of your learning will really happen in the workplace. Once you get a job, you will realize just how much more there is to learn. You will have to learn many company or project specific technologies and have to upgrade your existing skills to a professional level. You don't need to know every language. A good grasp of a few that are relevant to the technologies you want to work on combined with some basic knowledge of other common languages is sufficient. Once you get good enough at one language and programming fundementals, then picking up other languages is much easier.
Original post by Confffffffused
what time do you wake up and go to sleep?

7:45am and 11pm
Original post by Fazzy_77
Any advice for someone who is applying to do computer science at uni, with minimum previous experience of computing?
What is the most exciting part of your job?

Most universities will start teaching you from the very beginning because many people are just never exposed to proper programming before university. I'd suggest emphasizing what interests you in technology, what your goals are, and the steps you have taken to learn new languages. I'm not too sure what your application process is like, so it is hard for me to give more specific advice.

I love shipping products at scale. All of the products I have worked on shipped to global audiences - 800 million devices worldwide! I find it so cool to know that millions of people are using the features that I created.
I'd like to ask a question but I'm unsure how to phrase it so please bare with me.

Essentially, I focused my master's dissertation on analysing the motivational qualities of game-like features in non-game situations because I'm extremely interested in gamification. I've yet to apply this knowledge since graduating from my master's degree and am at a loss as to how to get started. I wonder, do Microsoft or any other software companies that you know offer any sort of direction to people like myself?
(edited 4 years ago)
Are you planning on starting your own business?

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