Concepta's Explore internship Experience

  One of my core goals during my internship as an Explore intern with the Excel team is to network with Microsoft employees in and out of the Excel team. I plan to organize two coffee chats with current Microsoft employees every week to learn about their past and current roles, with specific interest in learning about how the Microsoft Work culture is like. From the orientation meetings I attended this week, I learned that Embracing Diversity and Inclusion is a core priority for Microsoft and that every employee is always asked to reflect on how they will support the company’s efforts towards a more inclusive and diverse community. However, I have not got a chance to learn more about Microsoft’s actual work culture, work-life balance, and support resources towards the company’s employees. I plan to utilize these weekly coffee chats to learn more about these crucial aspects of Microsoft from current employees. Additionally, I joined the Black At Microsoft(BAM) Resource Group which w...

  During these first days of the internship, I have majorly been setting up my remote machine, installing the different software I will use, and attending intern orientation sessions. Throughout the setting up period, I have received so much help from my software engineering mentor and other engineers on the Excel Team. My initial reaction towards the Excel team is that they are very supportive and enjoy curious interns who ask questions. As a new intern, I was encouraged to ask as many questions as possible which gave me so much motivation to ask my questions.  One crucial aspect of the communication during the orientation sessions is the language used around Microsoft which includes acronyms. Being able to confidently ask what a speaker means by a certain term they use, I have been able to completely understand their communication that I would have otherwise not understood without understanding the acronym. Additionally, receiving prompt answers to questions has been very he...