So it was about a week after I returned from my Redmond interview that I got the call from the recruiter. In my last post, I mentioned that I was pretty sure I would get an offer from the SQL Server team, but I wasn’t so sure about Exchange. Anyway, I got offers from both. However, the offer from the SQL Server team was for a SDET (Software Design Engineer in Test) position, while the Exchange Server team offered me an SDE position (Software Design Engineer). Honestly, at the time it was a hard choice. I really liked the idea of working on the SQL Server team and getting a peak at the guts of an awesome software system. However, a testing position wasn’t hot on my list. Exchange didn’t seem as “cool” as SQL Server, but the “developer” position was more attractive. Thankfully, the recruiter set a phone call up with the hiring managers for both teams to give them an opportunity to pitch their team and project(s).
I talked to the hiring manager for SQL Server first. He explained that if I accepted their offer, I would be writing code to test developers’ code in the data persistence and integrity “area” of SQL Server, i.e. data storage and retrieval from memory and disk. I told him my concern that I would prefer a developer position–I actually felt kind of dumb since I really had nothing on which to base my opinion besides the fact that I like writing production code rather than test code–but he told me that he tries to give his interns a little experience in all three roles (project manager, developer, and tester). Well, it all sounded good. He also said that while SQL Server is still written in C++, all my test code would be written in C#.
My next call was with Wayne, a manager on the Exchange Edge Server team. He was a really nice guy and couldn’t stop talking about great the Exchange team was. He told me about a number of possible projects I could work on including an anti-spam agent and a log file analyzer. The call with Wayne was shorter than the first, but afterwards, and after talking to my wife, I felt like I should try for the best position possible, i.e. the developer position. I just thought that if I took the tester position, I might always regret it later.
So, I called the recruiter that night and accepted the offer from the Exchange team. What followed next was a barrage of calls, emails, documents, and other such preparatory things to get me ready to move and start my internship. More about the preparations and the move in my next posting…