One of my core goals and its Importance to me

 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 will be another opportunity to learn about how Microsoft supports employees beyond software development. Through activities like workshops, seminars, game nights, and lunch hours, I will be able to learn more about the different facets of Microsoft.  

One might be quick to wonder why I picked a non-technical goal as my top priority. To me, understanding a company’s work culture is very important because it plays a company’s work ethic is crucial in the success and satisfaction of working on given products. So, by understanding Microsoft’s work culture I will understand how potential future full time employment will look like and whether Microsoft would be a place where I would enjoy working.

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