Non-microsoft computer jobs in Seattle?

January 17, 2006 1:21 PM

Blacklisted from Microsoft- filter: Can I still find a job for my computer skills in Seattle if I can't work for the 800-pound Redmond gorilla?

I live in Seattle, and was fired from Microsoft a few months ago, for "NDA Violations"- basically, someone read web forum comments I'd made, which were unrelated to my job, and recognized my commonly used handle. I didn't think I had posted anything bad, and my annual review scores were always high, but despite the efforts of co-workers, my manager, his manager and others to keep me employed I was let go based on a decision from HR. The real kicker is that I can't work for Microsoft in any capacity until 2007. This didn't bother me much at the time as ironically I was thinking of leaving MS in about a year... but I'm in the Seattle area and it seems like any jobs I find at places like Monster or Craigslist that might fit my skill set are turning out to be contracting gigs... at Microsoft.

I've been in the biz about 10 years as an Operations guy. My last job, besides a short stint on the Windows OneCare Live ops team (where I was when they let me go), was pretty much the lone Systems Engineer for a certain search engine at Microsoft for a few years, and where our footprint grew to about 8,000 servers. It was highly automated; I helped architect and build it- by no means alone, there was dev team to code much of the automation- and designed and/or created some of the tools to go along with it, crafted standards and naming conventions, etc. I made our very custom application and automated way of doing things integrate well within the larger MSN bureaucracy by coming up with standards around shared services like AD and networking and asset tracking, etc., that allowed us to be automated while the paper pushers were still happy. Of course as an SE, I also ran the live and beta systems too: app releases, patches, upgrades, sending physical systems for repair, etc. We hired additional people closer to launch to help out as well, but for a time I was the only SE running the new search engine as well the legacy search engine that was making money while the new one was being built and beta'ed.

I thought I was a desirable employee, and I thought for sure I'd be able to find work easily... but I guess I'm in for a rude awakening. I'm open to telecommuting, but it seems my Windows skills are an anchor more than a help: jobs I'm finding locally or that allow telecommuting tend to want *nix skills, or are for such junior level sysadmin/ systems engineer positions that they don't seem to fit me.


So I guess my question is: have I specialized myself out of a job? Are there no positions for skilled Windows/networking people anymore beyond "jr. systems engineer with 3 years exp."? Or am I just looking in the wrong places- are the kinds of jobs for people like me not posted at Monster/Craigslist, etc? I must admit that at 30 and an ex-Microsoftie, this is the first time I've had to look for work in several years and I'm armed with (what I thought was) a pretty good resume and experience level compared to the last time I went job hunting. I'm not really sure how to go about this.

posted by hincandenza to work & money (15 comments total)

I've started to run into the same sort of problem, and the best advice I can give is it's always easier to find a job when you already have one. Meaning.. you may have to take one of these lower paying jobs until you find what you want.

Also.. Windows OneCare.. man.. you should firebomb them for that idea.
posted by jackofsaxons at 1:33 PM on January 17, 2006

Amazon.com?
posted by bbuda at 1:39 PM on January 17, 2006

Do you think you'll be easily able to get another job at MS once the year is up? Do you have any friends there who may be able to write you in in pencil as joining their project in '07?

This is probably not helpful, especially if you have a family, but have you considered shaving your expenses and spending a year travelling, or following some other pursuit that you've never really had time for?
posted by -harlequin- at 1:42 PM on January 17, 2006

I sent something to the email address in your profile.
posted by matildaben at 1:42 PM on January 17, 2006

matildaben: Thanks, I very much appreciate it!!! However, it looks to be fairly heavy into Linux/Cygwyn, which sadly isn't an area I'm familiar with. :(


Thanks for the answers so far. I'm actually fine with working on a smaller environment. My ideal job would be at a small- to mid-sized company where I can use my existing skills, have enough autonomy that creating real solutions and automation- and not just constant break-fix- is encouraged. Mostly, I don't want to start over from scratch on a new skillset. Maybe I'm overestimating my awesomeness, but I assumed that I could still net $45/hr+.

Just today, I had to back off a position I'd applied for with a consulting company when it was revealed that the position was coding some of the automation to be used in OS deployment for Windows Vista. I was a perfect fit, they were extremely excited by my resume... then I found out it was actually a position involved with MS, and they couldn't hire me. That's how it's been for the last couple of months...


jackofsaxons: yeah, I thought the OneCare idea was pretty lame myself (I can say that now, they can't fire me twice!). However, I took it solely as a chance to work on a smaller platform than Search, where I could perfect the automation for more generalized use, something more packageable and useable by the many teams in MSN, and OneCare was a new enough and independent enough team that I thought I would have that chance. Sadly, I was fired 3 months into that gig. *sigh*


bbuda: Amazingly, I worked at Amazon before going to work for MS- found it rather chaotic. I know a guy there, he's asked me to send my resume but with the caveat that they're pretty much all linux there too, unless I did helpdesk/tech support.


-harlequin-: it's actually 2 years before I could work there again (August of '07). I don't really want to work at MS, but would work there as a contractor in the interim if I could. Indeed, if they hadn't restricted me to not working there as a contractor, I'd have been hired about 10 minutes after being fired by any of a dozen teams that wanted me. When the news spread that I was fired, I had numerous people contacting me for work- and sadly couldn't take the jobs because they were all at MS.
posted by hincandenza at 2:46 PM on January 17, 2006

I can say that now, they can't fire me twice!

But they obviously read what you write on the internet. Good luck for 2007! :)
posted by fire&wings at 3:22 PM on January 17, 2006

Have you considered RealNetworks?
posted by pdb at 3:42 PM on January 17, 2006

don't kill me...

how about a google-killer?
posted by Izzmeister at 3:46 PM on January 17, 2006

Izzmeister- how do you mean?
posted by hincandenza at 4:00 PM on January 17, 2006

I sent you something to your email. It's a public agency, so the pay is less than what you are used to, but there might be something there to hold you over.
posted by luneray at 4:06 PM on January 17, 2006

I just completed a successful job search in Seattle and the market seems _very_ strong right now (as strong as it was in the late 90's from a demand (if not pay)) perspective). Though I was looking for a senior java position so our experience could be a little different.

Some companies that I ran across in my job search that looked interesting and had a fair amount of Microsoft focus:

Inrix is doing some really cool stuff with real-time and predicitive traffic analysis
MusicNet is the #2 provider of on-line and downloadable music (behind iTunes) and seems to have huge potential
Angie's List is sort of a yelp/epinions site that allows people to submit reviews for local businesses

Some other Seattle companies that I ran across that were interesting, but I'm not sure how microsofty they are:

Adobe
Qpass
ActionEngine
HubSpan
IDX
Washington Mutual

I'd also check out seattle craigslist and put a post on monster. I added the craigslist rss feed to my feed reader and perused the job postings every day.

This is actually the 3rd job that I've gotten through monster.com and I got a lot of response (though primarily recruiters) through it.

A couple of other pages I found useful in my looking for companies:

washjob employer listing
seattle 24x7 privately held internet company listing
indeed is a good meta job site search engine as well

Good luck, if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
posted by freshgroundpepper at 4:19 PM on January 17, 2006

Oh yeah, and zillow.

I also find reading John Cook's Venture Blog on the seattle PI an interesting read into the local startup/tech community.
posted by freshgroundpepper at 4:29 PM on January 17, 2006

hin - I don't know about the Linux/Cygwin. As far as I know it's Windows/.NET all the way - they may just have been CYAing with the other qualifications. Give it a shot anyway, we are hiring tons of people in IT.
posted by matildaben at 4:43 PM on January 17, 2006

Seattle? Have you tried working on any salmon boats? Diversify!
posted by zaelic at 5:03 PM on January 17, 2006

Isn't Expedia in Seattle? I thought that Microsoft spun them off a while ago, so you might try there?
posted by mge at 4:55 AM on January 18, 2006