The end of this month is my last day at Microsoft. I didn’t plan this. My original plan was to remain a representative of that company and work on the amazing products they make. However, market forces caused another reorganization, and since there were no other departments with vacancies for remote work in Germany, we agreed to part ways. Who knows? Maybe things will change, but given the current trend of all big tech companies to “reduce health,” I looked for smaller, local companies.
Having been focused on my employer for 8 years with no interest in other opportunities, I dove into the job market, brushed up my resume, and utilized my network of great people I’ve interacted with over the years. So, after a month of unemployment benefits, I will start a new position on July 1st.
In total I sent 19 applications, 11 of which were offered to me by contacts, recruiters or companies directly. Yes, I am a lucky person with many privileges. But I also have a career of more than 20 years in which I worked very hard. My main source was LinkedIn but I also paid for two more services, both of which were useless, but at least the payment is tax deductible.
It was very difficult for me to find and choose, especially because of the people I met in the process. It was nice and exciting to meet everyone. The deals were really good too and some made imposter syndrome jump around like a mechanical monkey with a saucer on my head. I had a hard time disappointing some dedicated people and I hope I didn’t burn all the bridges. In short, recruiters are people too, so treat them how you want to be treated.
I also want to point out that the list I’m about to write seems strange, as it may make me sound like a spoiled brat, at least to me. But I think it might be useful for companies to know what things can make someone like me say no, even when all interactions were positive until the last moment.
So, without further ado, here it goes:
Work from the office / crazy hybrid work demands
With the pandemic pause it seems that most companies remembered that they have expensive offices that their employers should use. They also often had bad experiences with people working remotely. And I understand it. Working face to face in a small company is much more efficient. I’m looking forward to working from an office again from time to time. But I don’t see the point in being a leader of a distributed team and having to do this from somewhere with an hour’s commute when all my interactions would be virtual anyway. One company even asked me if I could work from their office 400 kilometers away twice a week.
Remote work in tech is the obvious one, so don’t force it on people who don’t want to waste time on the road.
Complex and rigid application processes and systems.
Bureaucracy and red tape in companies are generally cited as a major source of employee dissatisfaction. So it’s disconcerting to see how many companies made me jump through rows and rows of hoops, some of them on fire, just to get to the first interview. I get it, at Microsoft we were also inundated with apps and there are many SaaS offerings that promise a company to deal with that in a way convenient for recruiters.
But having to replicate all the information in a secondary system after people found me on LinkedIn and obtained my CV through the “Easy Apply” process was always the first indicator that we won’t get to where we both apparently want to go.
I keep my LinkedIn profile organized and up-to-date, as well as my CV. So having to fill out multi-step forms, some of them with two-factor authentication and CAPTCHAs with the same information, is not only a huge waste of time, but it also worries me because it means there is a copy of my information that will not receive a