What does it take to be a Microsoft program manager

With product and project managers already a staple in the industry, Microsoft’s program manager role can seem redundant.

At the same time, it’s a highly sought-after position that plays a key part in the company’s success.

We’re going to break down why the program manager job title exists at Microsoft, what it’s like, and how you can become one.

What is a program manager?

The program manager role can be hard to describe, particularly because there’s no single definition.

The position isn’t unique to Microsoft; other tech companies like Amazon and Google have their own program manager roles, and Facebook has technical program managers, who fulfill a similar need.

Just like in product, where the size and industry of your firm can make a significant difference in your responsibilities, program management roles can vary by company, and even from team to team within Microsoft.

However, the general expectations for the role are distinct from its more common counterparts.

Instead of taking responsibility for a single product or project, a program manager is in charge of the larger vision of how a team runs.

Some describe the distinction between project management and program management by defining the difference between a project and a program: while a project is driven by a single overarching goal, a program is made up of interrelated projects with a wider array of objectives.

Likewise, while product managers guide the development of a single application or feature by communicating with engineers and user experience designers, program managers have a larger crowd of stakeholders that they speak with to oversee the program through every step of the process.

What’s the job like?

As mentioned earlier, the PM role can vary greatly in different parts of the company. One former Microsoft PM wrote a blog post about her time in the position, saying that she switched teams multiple times before finding one where she fit in.

Many others have made similar observations. Caryl Henry is a program management intern who was supposed to be in Seattle this summer, but is adjusting to remote work instead in the midst of the pandemic. She said she’s noticed lots of diversity in the program managers she’s met so far.

“It’s very dependent on your particular job,” she says. “[One PM on my team is] super technical. The dev team said if he wants to be a developer, he could just flip the switch and they’d take him.”

However, writing code isn’t a requirement for most Microsoft PMs.

“You need to have enough knowledge to read the documentation and understand it at a high level, but you don’t need to know how to implement it,” Caryl says.

With all of their responsibilities, it would be nearly impossible for most program managers to find the time to code anyway. With the vast breadth of their domain, they need to communicate with a variety of departments in the company, including marketing, legal, design, and development, as it pertains to their program.

An outgoing Microsoft PM wrote an article reflecting on her time in the position, where she found that she had spent 2,136 hours in meetings over her 34 months at the company. She also discovered that she’d sent an average of six emails a day, many PMs’ go-to line of communication to stay connected with the program’s various stakeholders and end-users.

Fortunately, the level of organization and attention to detail required by the PM role is amply rewarded. Glassdoor estimates that Microsoft PMs make a total salary of $134,000 on average, compared to a Microsoft SDE making $130,000. However, promotions can give you a significant boost. One former Microsoft PM reports reaching a salary over $250,000 after nine years at the company.

How can I get a job as a program manager?

Unlike software development, which calls for a more narrowly-defined skill set, program management requires a diverse assortment of qualifications, including many soft skills.

“It’s a lot of communication,” says Caryl. “You’re defining your idea, but you’re not the one creating it.”

A senior SDE at Microsoft on Quora detailed the qualities he’s seen in successful PMs, highlighting the importance of interpersonal skills, knowledge of the domain you’re working in, and your handle on technology. A technical background is often useful, but creative interests on top of that wouldn’t hurt. In addition to majoring in computer science, Caryl is pursuing a marketing certificate and a design certificate. She also noticed that a lot of her full-time team members come from business backgrounds.

The steps you should take to get in

Recruitment for Microsoft program managers can be competitive, even compared to software engineering positions, as the ratio of PMs to developers is estimated around 1:6 or 1:8.

If you’re interested in applying, your best bet is to reach out directly to a recruiter on LinkedIn or a PM in your network.

Since the role can vary so much within the company, try to research the product or technology that you’re most interested in and connect with a program manager who works in that area to learn about their experience.

The interview process:

Rectuiter phone call

They’ll ask you some basic questions about your interest in Microsoft and program management, as well as background about your resume and past experience.

Program manager screen

If you make it through that, you’ll continue to a phone screening, where a program manager will ask you some technical and design questions.

Onsite

The final step in the process is an on-site, where you’ll have back-to-back interviews with four to five different Microsoft employees. Like the phone screening, these rounds will consist of technical and design questions such as, “What’s your favorite product and why?” followed by an exercise where you map out your own ideas and improvements.

To better prepare, you can find all recent interview questions for this role in the Candor community.