Microsoft is scouting around for technical talent in India. And they are competing with the Infosys, Wipro, TCS and the Accentures of the world to get the best Indian software minds. What do you do then to attract the best talent and beat competition?
Microsoft has resorted to what it does best - great marketing! There can be nothing more exciting for a programmer - writing a piece of code for Bill Gates! They have launched a contest called code4bill. The contest aims to find the best technical students in India and give them an opportunity to do an internship at Microsoft. One winner - Grand Champion, will work with Bill Gates Technical Assistants team in Redmond, USA for a period of one year( Does something like that exist? I am not sure).
I went thro' the website and I see it as a good recruitment drive. Nothing more. But, what Microsoft folks have done is to take advantage of Bill's visit to India and have created an event out of it for their software development centre in India. I am sure none of the interns are going to directly code for Bill. But, there are thousands of Indian engineering students who will fall for it! It's better than releasing a recruitment ad, I guess. In India with thousands of students applying for a software job, the tests are routine. So, what's the big deal for students in taking one more test and interview? They will be more than ready to take on the challenge. This is just packaged in a different way.
Can the experience post the recruitment let them down?