End of this month, it will be exactly two years since I joined Microsoft Research Cambridge as a Senior Software Engineer. It also means that If I quit – I don’t have to pay back the Sign-on Bonus (like many other big companies FAANG). On accepting the offer, the first month’s pay-check has a large sum of sign-on bonus which needs to be returned if I hadn’t stayed for two years.
Two Year is a big milestone – One Year is short (HR may dislike the fact that employees change jobs every a year or so, which shows lack of royality), and two year is on average the tenure for Big Tech e.g. FAANG.
I go to office two or three days a week – most engineers and researchers work on Hybrid basis (50/50 Remote Working = Work From Home).
Two Year Anniversary of Joing Microsoft Research Cambridge as a Senior Software Engineer
I am grateful that there is a free packing in the building underground – however the slot needs to be reserved if you want to use it per day (8 hour slot) thanks to Covid that introduces the Hybrid working policy so those limited (e.g. around 30) parking spaces can be shared. When I was working for Amazon (Amazon Web Services AWS), the building next to Microsoft, I had to fill in an application for a limited parking space, which was given in priority to those employees who live far. And most importantly, it was not free at that time. The employee had to pay about 80 GBP to reserve a park space in the building.
The parking spaces at Microsoft are currently experiencing lower occupancy rates, allowing for more availability and convenience for employees and visitors. I need a space tomorrow, I can just book it today. However, it is recommended to book it as early as possible (earliest booking allowed for two weeks later)
Single-way commute takes around 20 minutes and sometimes up to 30 minutes if the traffic is busy. I first drop my kids at school in the morning and then head to office. And in the afternoon 3:00 I go to school to pick up kids and then go home and work a bit, and sometimes I work at evenings and midnights (flexible hours that I can focus myself better).
The Canteen’s food (The Food Lab) is healthy and most of the times not-bad. A main food is 5.1 GBP per course (meal option and vegeterian option). The fruit and drink is free. There are lighter bites, yogurt, fruit salad, soup of the day – which are between 1 to 2 GBP.
My first meeting (stand-up) starts at 9:30 in the morning, and I’d like to grab a breakfast when I arrive at office – usually between 9:00 to 9:20. I’d like to have 3 fried eggs and it costs 1.86 GBP (price rises from 1.50 GBP).
It is usually 9 o’clock when I arrive at the company, and the morning meeting is 9:30, so I have time to go to the restaurant for breakfast. I like to eat three fried eggs, free coffee, free fruit
Three Eggs Breakfast at Microsoft Research Cambridge
The best part of working in a Research group is that there is no oncall. When I was working for Amazon (AWS = Amazon Web Services), every engineer is expected to be take oncall duties once every 6-8 weeks (depending on the size of the team), and each oncall shift is 24×7 for one week. When alarm fires off, you (SDE = Software Development Engineer) will be page, and are expected to respond within 15 minutes. If not, your line manager will be paged, and if he/she does not respond, the page will go up one level at a time until it reaches the CEO – Jeff Bezos.
In here MSRC, the software engineers work closely with the researchers: building prototypes and turning ideas into products.
What’s next? Aiming for a Promotion in a couple of years? It is not easy to get promoted in a Big Tech Company. Time will tell…
Onwards and Upwards!
Take a look at the research work done by Microsoft Research Cambridge
–EOF (The Ultimate Computing & Technology Blog) —
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