Today I began my new job with Microsoft as the Community Manager for the Microsoft Q&A team. As I begin to get started with New Employee Orientation and drinking from the firehose of information, I wanted to chronicle what the process has been like in joining Microsoft.

The first post around this subject, The Journey to Microsoft: Application to Hiring, covers an approximately six-week period from the time I applied for this position until I received the final confirmation email that I was hired by Microsoft.

Once you are hired by Microsoft and get that confirmation email, the next series of steps begins almost immediately and they take you from being hired to your first day on the job. Just like the application to hiring process might be different for various roles at Microsoft, your experience in getting from hired to your first day might vary from my own experience as well.

Also of note, this process was 100% remote for both phases of joining Microsoft so when the company returns to in-person process – this will be slightly different as well.

As I mentioned in my post about the journey from application to hiring, that final hire complete confirmation email is the golden ticket. At this point you now have a start date and are likely anxious to get started – I certainly was ready!

The first email I received as a result of the hire confirmation arrived later on that same day. It was from the business manager asking me to confirm my shipping information so that my new hire hardware and peripherals could be ordered and sent to me.

The standard issue hardware in DevRel, which Microsoft Q&A is part of, lays out like this:

• Laptop
• Docking station
• 27″ monitor
• Keyboard and mouse combo
• Headset
• CAC card reader

Once this was confirmed the gear was ordered about four days later and began shipping the following week. It arrived in four different shipments and everything was here a week ahead of my first day on the job. Emails about your hardware shipments come from SendSuite Live with tracking numbers so you can keep track. Note: Each shipment had to be signed for so make accommodations to be present when they arrive to avoid delays.

A few days after the new hire hardware email, another email from Microsoft HR arrived asking me to review and update all of the information for my work profile including providing a headshot image for my user account avatar and employee badge. This took about 20 minutes or so to complete. Note: Make sure you are happy with all the information in your profile because there is no way to edit this information once it is submitted to HR. I suspect edits can be made once you have credentials and full access to Microsoft’s HR system if it is necessary.

The next email I received from Microsoft HR arrived next, the week before my first day, with details about New Employee Orientation (NEO). This email provides the date and time for this three-hour session. Due to COVID-19 this happens on Microsoft Teams virtually.

This email also contains important information and links relating to getting your credentials from your manager, setting up phone authentication, resetting your password and setting up your work device. Keep this handy for your first day in case there are any bumps in the road.

The last email I received for this part of my Microsoft journey was from Microsoft New Hire Onboarding with a request to verify my shipping information and contact info so they could send me by employee badge. They indicated in this email that I would get a shipping notice once it was on its way so it can be tracked and signed for when it arrives.

This entire process took about three weeks from start to finish in my case. Next up will be sharing what the onboarding process is like once the new job has started.

Thanks for following along.