Microsoft wants you and me (Updated)

August 3 2005

This is just too much fun to write.

I got back from lunch this afternoon to an e-mail from Tom Duff, forwarding a note he had received about a job opportunity at Microsoft.  I'm certainly aware that Microsoft has field staff focused on Notes to Exchange migrations, though this is the first time I've seen them use the Domino blogs as an avenue for recruiting "Exchange Rangers".  Tom's comment was "Can you believe this? ;-)", and as you can see from the link above, he blogged about it.

Things got funnier.

As I was reading Tom's e-mail, I received a note at my weblog's e-mail address with the subject "Spare a thought for Microsoft?"  Hmm, well, sure, I spare thoughts for Microsoft all the time!  Let's see what this is about...

Well, the introductory paragraph was somewhat different, but the crux of the e-mail was the same as what Tom posted -- would I be interested in an "Exchange Ranger" job?  

Excuse me a moment while I go clean up after snorting so hard.

Several weeks ago, I was contacted on behalf of Microsoft for a different job.  I don't want to breach confidentiality on that one (as opposed to this e-mail, which made no such request).  But it was a much bigger and more important role.  At the time, I was flattered that Microsoft considers me a worthy enough competitor to be on their list.  Today, on the other hand, honestly -- I'm laughingly insulted.  After turning down big-important-job, what  recruiter would think I'd want to be a "Ranger"?  Working on Notes to Exchange migrations?  For Microsoft?

I know, I know, that's a pretty funny one!  I hope all of you who were contacted had a similar reaction!!

Updated: For those of you arriving here via eweek.com, please read this posting.

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Microsoft  Add/View Comments [45]

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  1. 1  Bruce http://www.bruceelgort.com | 8/3/2005 3:28:48 PM

    { Link }

  1. 2  Villi  | 8/3/2005 3:42:37 PM

    I for one will jump ship, given the MS money. With a little luck I might have a word with Ozzy.

    I also remember a few worflow engineers from Germany who joined the dark side, whom I whould like to meet - not to mention all the other "Lotis" who whork there now. MS has been on a raid, and it has been successfull.

    Wheres the IBM raid on MS?

    Today I was trying to connect to Domino through the static NotesFactory from WebSperhere. It is enough to turn any developer off Domino:)

    Ed: I like your commitment, but one question: Does IBM still sing the IBM song at get togethers? :)

  1. 3  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 8/3/2005 3:45:59 PM

    Villi, I'll happily pass your name along to the recruiter. Do I get the referral fee?

  1. 4  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 8/3/2005 3:52:56 PM

    And - more importantly, if you become an MS "Ranger", do you get a free mask, hat, horse called Silver, and a sidekick called Tonto ? I supppse "Ranger" is better than "Cowboy"..

    Go on - publish the recruiters name so we can *all* apply...!

    ---* Bill

  1. 5  Villi  | 8/3/2005 4:04:38 PM

    You pass my name on. I have the perfect CV. I promise to come to the interview in shorts, a Lotus T-Shirt (badly washed blue SuperHuman T-Shirt), with an iPod in my ears, my ThinkPad open, reading SlashDot and I will answer every question: "this is how we did it with Notes 10 years ago" :) Do you think I will get the job?

  1. 6  Ralph http://allralph.de | 8/3/2005 4:07:28 PM

    Hey Ed,

    I been one amongst the people who follow your blog rather silently. You seem like a nice person, which is why I want to be straight with you even so it´s certainly not my place really, but that being insulted by an job offer came out quite arrogant. As a matter of fact you actually might (I don´t say are, because hell what do I know?) be overqualified or anything to do that job, but still. And being tried to recruited twice, that could have happened with any bigger company, i.e. IBM, either. Just my two cents, in order to give an more opposing comment to all you amused Notes folks...

    Best regards, Ralph

  1. 7  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 8/3/2005 4:12:19 PM

    Yep, Ralph, I agree, it was a little arrogant.

  1. 8  Lance Spellman  | 8/3/2005 4:17:17 PM

    Come now Ralph, can't you see the humor. The biggest, baddest Notes advocate on the planet, and an IBM exec at that, has just been spammed with a, "come be a flunky implementation consultant" offer. It's kind of like hitting up George Bush to come advise on the Democratic campaign strategy for Mayberry county commissioner.

    It's not particularly offensive, just highly humorous.

  1. 9  Greyhawk68 http://greyhawk68.dominohosting.biz | 8/3/2005 4:29:08 PM

    Completely arrogant and deservedly so! :-) This was spam targeting folks on Domino blogrolls. Obviously, whoever sent it didn't do their homework on the actual people behind the blogs. They were just trying to snag popular Domino bloggers.

    So rock on Ed! Get down with your bad self... LOL.

    -Grey

  1. 10  Dave  | 8/3/2005 4:30:28 PM

    What is really funny about this is that they are targeting the last group of people who would be interested. What, are they looking for people who are almost 100% guaranteed to turn them down?

    Why not target people like me instead, who are sitting in the corporate world, wouldn't mind getting a different position, already split their time between MS technologies and the Lotus world, and do not have a bias either way. We're the folks who would actually consider it, no matter what the job title may be.

    Not only are we more likely to take the job, there are a lot more of us who split our time between the vendors than who still do 100% Domino work. (At least, here in Denver, that is the case.)

    Alas, targetting you folks is truly just fodder to get the jokes rolling...

  1. 11  tonyo  | 8/3/2005 4:32:19 PM

    I'm sure the recruiter made a mistake. I'll make sure you get the correct email which was for a "Sharepoint Ranger" :)

    You do webparts don't you ?

  1. 12  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 8/3/2005 5:38:33 PM

    Hi ho silver, awa.......GPF: your lack of enthusiasm for working at Microsoft caused a general protection fault in module headhunter.dll at 0012:0000045. Please rethink your response and rephrase your post in a positive light, then reboot your computer to avoid a repeat of this error in the future....;)

  1. 13  Danny Lawrence  | 8/3/2005 6:34:05 PM

    Actually they may have targeted you for the "other" job (not the Ranger one) attempting to get the "double hit" ie Help your side while hurting the other guys. It's a valid recruitment technique (but in their case I think they underestimated your committment to your current job)

  1. 14  Carl  | 8/3/2005 11:31:28 PM

    approached about OneNote maybe??

  1. 15  Richard Sampson www.hadsl.com | 8/4/2005 3:38:38 AM

    Just remember that when attending any M$ interviews you need to wear your R3 "Communicate Collaborate Coordinate" promotional Y-Fronts on the outside!

  1. 16  Duncan Alldis www.lan2lan.com | 8/4/2005 4:45:33 AM

    Where can we get those retro R3 "3 C's" Y-fronts? The perfect gift for any Notes die hard. Revolution!!

  1. 17  Ed Maloney  | 8/4/2005 8:23:20 AM

    Funny, but really not funny. M$ is trying the old "shake the tree and see what falls" strategy. Sadly, there are always a few people who will see short term $$$ and jump. I saw it happen to Novell and it's deja-vu all over again.

  1. 18  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 8/4/2005 12:23:37 PM

    (Trust Pants to talk about underwear...)

    ---* Bil

  1. 19  Ports mrports.blogspot.com | 8/4/2005 12:42:11 PM

    If you go to Microsoft.com and search for Lotus in the jobs section ({ Link } 15 jobs are returned. Maybe they targeted you Ed because one of the jobs is in Chicago. But there is an interesting section in the job for OWA tester "We are innovating daily in the web application space using DHTML to develop the most feature rich, compelling web-based e-mail client possible as we complete against GMail, Yahoo Mail, Lotus Workspace and others for the best web e-mail solution." Interesting to see MS are worried about Workplace.

  1. 20  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 8/4/2005 4:00:36 PM

    @19 - So they don't consider DWA a contender. Or maybe it's out of their league! =)

    Still waiting on my email to be a Ranger... Wonder if Lotus is working on a Ranger initiative? Only time will tell!

  1. 21  Dave  | 8/5/2005 12:58:20 AM

    Makes one wonder what made Cliff Reeves, Gary Devendorf, Ray Ozzie, Paul Haverstock, and many more end up at Microsoft.

  1. 22  tonyo  | 8/5/2005 1:15:14 AM

    #21- do you really want to know?

  1. 23  Nathan T. Freeman  | 8/5/2005 2:23:28 AM

    #21 - C-A-S-H

  1. 24  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 8/5/2005 6:35:29 AM

    @21 well, one thing about all those names is that none of them were recruited from IBM by Microsoft.

  1. 25  Tony Cocks http://www.tonycocks.com | 8/5/2005 10:32:58 AM

    I was.

    Oh and trust me it wasn't for the money.

    Lets debunk one myth straight away, you don't join Microsoft if it's for the 'nelsons' thats fer sure!

  1. 26  Villi  | 8/5/2005 11:16:38 AM

    @6 Ralph

    This is a blog. There is a certain amount of humor, irony, and honesty allowed here. I thought Ed was very polite (as always).

    What MS is doing, is quite funny, and in an informal forum like this, I think we can have a bit of fun with this MS strategy.

  1. 27  Mike  | 8/5/2005 11:34:40 AM

    With all the employees MS has on payroll, why can't they groom their own staff to take on these roles? On the news today, ({ Link } they've found an outsider to take over as COO. What does that tell you about the MS culture? Anyone that knows Domino, knows it would be a huge culture clash going to MS...

  1. 28  Gary Devendorf www.msdomino.net | 8/5/2005 12:26:42 PM

    It's true. MS is hiring.

  1. 29  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com/msxsux.html | 8/5/2005 4:47:28 PM

    Yeah, I got that one, too. After I stopped laughing, I ignored it. They don't need my help... I mean, they have Charlie and Gary!

    Turtle

  1. 30  Ben Poole http://www.benpoole.com | 8/5/2005 8:02:31 PM

    I don't get it. If it isn't for the money, then why do these people move?

  1. 31  tonyo  | 8/5/2005 11:12:40 PM

    #30 - ben, send me a email and I will tell you why I moved..

  1. 32  David Price www.kbnconsulting.com | 8/6/2005 5:15:58 PM

    Like many of you, I have spent over a decade with Lotus. I can think of several reasons, besides money, that people would move.

    How committed is my company to the technology I love?

    If I don't move now, will I miss the next phase of my career?

    Is my job fun?

    What level of bureaucratic bs do I deal with on a regular basis?

    Do I need a different challenge for personal or professional reasons?

    Once or twice a year I ask myself these questions (and others) to try and determine if I am doing the right thing. It is too easy to focus on the next project or the next client.

  1. 33  Deep Throat  | 8/8/2005 7:29:34 AM

    As someone very close to this I would just like to clear one thing up, Ranger has nothing to do with the position discussed in this recruiting form letter nor does it have anything to do with Lotus Notes.

    Ranger is an internal name for a training program on Exchange, and is not something you could ever apply for as a job. Don't confuse a training program with a job posting, that would be like saying IBM Workplace is just a newer version of Lotus Notes.

    The truth is much duller than fiction.

  1. 34  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 8/8/2005 8:40:50 AM

    @33 - ok, so fine, the job is "program manager", that's clear in the e-mail that Tom Duff posted. But what do you mean it has nothing to do with Lotus Notes?

  1. 35  Deep Throat   | 8/8/2005 9:38:16 AM

    Ranger has nothing to do with Notes, it's Exchange training.

    The note from the recruiter confuses the two, but they are apples and oranges.

    There is no such thing as an "Exchange Ranger" job, that is inaccurate, and I feel compelled to correct this.

    That is all

  1. 36  Hosun Lee  | 8/9/2005 9:13:29 AM

    Mental note, must start 1,832 blogs this week. Recruiters, come to me now.

  1. 37  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 8/9/2005 12:02:33 PM

    Ed, here's another story of a group of Rangers:

    { Link }

    "Written in July, the viruses take advantage of a new command shell, code-named Monad, that's included in the Windows Vista beta code.

    The viruses were published last month in a virus-writing tutorial written for an underground hacker group calling itself the Ready Ranger Liberation Front, and take advantage of security vulnerabilities in the new command shell."

  1. 38  Trevor Williamson  | 8/10/2005 8:52:11 PM

    Monad is not in the Vista beta nor will it be in the shipping version. A little research would have told you that.

  1. 39  Jay Stokes  | 4/16/2007 5:57:06 PM

    Deep Throat:

    "There is no such thing as an "Exchange Ranger" job, that is inaccurate, and I feel compelled to correct this."

    Umm.. Don't talk about what you DO NOT know. My bother works for Microsoft and IS an Exchange Ranger. It's not a job title but more of an internal classification if you will. There are less than 100 in the world. Obviously you were making an assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume

    THAT IS ALL! :)

  1. 40  Jay Stokes  | 4/16/2007 6:00:37 PM

    { Link }

  1. 41  Jay Stokes  | 4/16/2007 6:01:43 PM

    { Link }

  1. 42  Jay Stokes  | 4/16/2007 6:03:45 PM

    Oh my gosh, is this a Microsoft page talking about Exchange Rangers??? Nah, couldn't be! Deep Throat says there is no such thing as an Exchange Ranger

    { Link }

  1. 43  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 4/17/2007 11:56:34 AM

    Jay, I hope you feel better now. FWIW, the postings from the author "deep throat" were also left with an e-mail address from someone at Microsoft. I believe they were quite clear on the distinction between a "job" and a certification.