I got hired back in July 2015 the same way anyone would: applying and getting through the application process. From there, it was mostly a process of attrition. I was the second-oldest member of the team, and the oldest (and former architect), Rebecca, moved on to full-on management and product management, leaving an open spot for me once we started hiring more folks into our team. A big reason for giving me that tech lead role was that by then, I'd done major refactors, rewrites, and rearchitecting that reached into all parts of the CLI, so I was intimately familiar with the shape and function of the code. That took about 3 or 4 years to happen, though.
I think a lot of things are simply a matter of time.
As far as joining MSFT, I was introduced to the team through professional connections (both a colleague in TC39, and through twitter). The messages bounced around until I got in touch with someone on the NuGet team, and they got me started with the application process from there!
It's funny: I almost turned Microsoft down because I really really didn't want to do the interview gauntlet. I was deeply burnt out, depressed, and just not braining right after the chaos at NPM, and I didn't think I could perform well enough to get hired at a major company. I even cancelled my initial on-site interview, but one of the contacts messaged me a while later after finding out and talked me into giving it a shot anyway. I still wasn't sure I wanted to do all this, but I went for it, and after a couple of months, I ended up getting an offer!
MSFT wasn't the only place I applied to. I had a spreadsheet of about 40 different places, most of which I at least had first-contact with, and that resulted in about 3 final offers (most of them dropped off because of technicalities, constraints, or me simply deciding not to continue). Of all three, MSFT's ended up being the best combination of the requirements I was looking for in a new job (plus the compensation package), so that's what I picked.
As far as "being as good as developers like myself": I think it's important to note that I consider myself pretty mediocre for someone who's been doing this for 10 years, and any perception of ability is simply a function of experience. The rest is simply luck, and access to opportunity -- I moved to the SF Bay Area about 6 years ago, and the fact is the opportunities here were way more numerous (and lucrative) than anything I experienced living in several other places after I moved out of home.
I kinda take issue with the cult of personality that forms around people in visible position and so-called thoughtleaders on the internet. We're all actually fairly average, normal people who happened upon fame by sheer luck. Please don't evaluate your ability and competence based on where visible folks landed. So much of it has more to do with privilege and luck as opposed to what you or I can actually do, as developers. Keep at it!
I got hired back in July 2015 the same way anyone would: applying and getting through the application process. From there, it was mostly a process of attrition. I was the second-oldest member of the team, and the oldest (and former architect), Rebecca, moved on to full-on management and product management, leaving an open spot for me once we started hiring more folks into our team. A big reason for giving me that tech lead role was that by then, I'd done major refactors, rewrites, and rearchitecting that reached into all parts of the CLI, so I was intimately familiar with the shape and function of the code. That took about 3 or 4 years to happen, though.
I think a lot of things are simply a matter of time.
As far as joining MSFT, I was introduced to the team through professional connections (both a colleague in TC39, and through twitter). The messages bounced around until I got in touch with someone on the NuGet team, and they got me started with the application process from there!
It's funny: I almost turned Microsoft down because I really really didn't want to do the interview gauntlet. I was deeply burnt out, depressed, and just not braining right after the chaos at NPM, and I didn't think I could perform well enough to get hired at a major company. I even cancelled my initial on-site interview, but one of the contacts messaged me a while later after finding out and talked me into giving it a shot anyway. I still wasn't sure I wanted to do all this, but I went for it, and after a couple of months, I ended up getting an offer!
MSFT wasn't the only place I applied to. I had a spreadsheet of about 40 different places, most of which I at least had first-contact with, and that resulted in about 3 final offers (most of them dropped off because of technicalities, constraints, or me simply deciding not to continue). Of all three, MSFT's ended up being the best combination of the requirements I was looking for in a new job (plus the compensation package), so that's what I picked.
As far as "being as good as developers like myself": I think it's important to note that I consider myself pretty mediocre for someone who's been doing this for 10 years, and any perception of ability is simply a function of experience. The rest is simply luck, and access to opportunity -- I moved to the SF Bay Area about 6 years ago, and the fact is the opportunities here were way more numerous (and lucrative) than anything I experienced living in several other places after I moved out of home.
I kinda take issue with the cult of personality that forms around people in visible position and so-called thoughtleaders on the internet. We're all actually fairly average, normal people who happened upon fame by sheer luck. Please don't evaluate your ability and competence based on where visible folks landed. So much of it has more to do with privilege and luck as opposed to what you or I can actually do, as developers. Keep at it!
Such a great and motivating answer for all of us. Thank you!