I just completed my first day of orientation at Microsoft. Wow! My first day was shared with about 199 other people’s first day at Microsoft. 
So organized, informative, motivating, and just really COOL! Currently there are 39,000 employees at MS just in the Puget Sound area and to date the company employees about 89,000 worldwide. They shared with us what the original mission statement for Microsoft was back in 1975 when Gates and Allen started the company, it was ” To put a PC on every desk and in every home in the world.” I don’t think they accomplished that completely, but pretty close too it. In 2000 the mission statement was revised to reflect the current state and responsibility of the company. Today it is “To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential”. You should see the number of things the company and it’s employees do to make a change in the world. So I might just be drinking the “Kool-aid”, but I was really touched today to know that I will be working for an amazing company the will provide me the tools to make a difference in how things around the world are done. Having been a contractor for the last year I know that no one watches to see if you show up 10 min. late or if you take an 1.5 hour lunch because (for the most part) the people working here are passionate, driven and intelligent…they are excited (and the company tries to make sure they are excited) about what they are doing. There is such a diversity in this company and they consider this to be a huge strength for them. Diversity was not a “PC” term today, it was a word used to describe the range of perspectives that are shared along with the ability to reach people globally.
It’s too much to go into, but I remember the day I graduated from Auburn University and walked across the stage…I was proud and today sitting in orientation I had the same feeling. I knew some day Mike work at Microsoft and that we would live in Seattle, but I never thought I would be working at Microsoft….I guess I’ll start dreaming bigger.
Woo Hoo…I’m a blue badge!