Executive Officers - Stories I joined Microsoft at L63 in Office and found it to be a freakshow of people NOT working together but understanding that no team work was better for getting a promotion FAR better than I did having come from the Valley. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I am not worried. Our entire unit was let go but we were moved to different groups in the org. Joined MCS at level 60 and was immediately told that L61 would be years away. By contrast, most directors don't have their own budgets, but need approvals from their VP to do just about anything. And the place where MS has the most non-contributing overheads is Redmond. "I wonder whyMicrosoft: Citi Cuts Ests, Target On PC Slowdown. If you do not market yourself well, even if you are a superstar here at MSFT, your achievements might just go unrecognized (or they might be selectively recognized). :)Then, over the next 2 years, I learned the magic of 65: it's not just about playing *well* with others, it's about making every team you work with great and helping them do their best work. However L64 takes some time and L65 is very difficult. For example, in order to be promoted to level 62, you, as a level 61, must already perform at a level 62 level for a long time. You may see lots of other people being jerks around you, but trust me, people remember when you are the nice, dependable, smart one.5. The funding for our project stopped and our vendor team of 28 people have been asked to leave immediately. EQ/IQ and Collaboration. Maybe." What to do?The remaining is either a) absorb into other org (say A)b) if A doesn't need testers, then VP will instruct them to find another position in 6 weeks. If you're not there yet and your boss was asked that question by your skip-level-boss, what is your boss's answer? Ben Harris - Interim Director - BT Group | LinkedIn I've changed jobs but came back to the group that's been the most supportive. The reason why they were 65's are:1. One of my august colleges uses the analogy of a trapeze artist. Make sure you have chosen commitments that you can exceed, and that you deliver visible and significant value to your business and customers. If only your manager knows you then it is unlikely (at least on paper) that you will move beyond L62. You don't get your money by snatching it out of Google or Apple's hands, you get it by convincing your customers to hand it to you.Do you want to know why Vista is such an unmitigated disaster? Some were also not very sexy/fun problem but they were all critical to ship. If he thought you were trouble already, though, telling him you are thinking about leaving is like asking for a ticket out of there.7. There are 12 Directors in my sub and over 1000 people all scoping to one day be a Lvl 63reality, most people will leave before they get that far. > What if you and your manager are at the same level L62. Any idea on when is this going to change? Thats a very helpful answer. Thanks. You're cursed for life.2. Until you can be honest with yourself (and it's not fun, trust me) you will be stuck doing what you're doing and your complaining will be the glue keeping you there. I think talking about level just confuses people as beyond US there is a different level system!L63 in the US is Senior (Level 60 in most of the other countries), well, moving to Senior is not such a big thing if you have experience, with more than 10 years in the industry I was hired at this level, now Senior II is just a matter of continuing contributing but the different comes to Principal (or lead), here is where you need to shine in order to succeed.Recommendation: Work not only towards your commitments but your managers as well As a former L65 (left MSFT about two months ago) I can say you are right on when it comes to understanding where your boss stands. No, L7 is 66-67. It's also a well-known fact that there is a disparity in levels between Office and now Sinofsky's Windows and the rest of the company, especially below 65 level.About asking your manager and getting their feedback, we're assuming that managers are capable of giving candid feedback. Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. Add your salary anonymously in less than 60 seconds and continue exploring all the data. A Principal-level employee at Microsoft is someone who drives strategic efforts in their area of expertise. If you have a good manager he/she will ensure the relevant peers know all about it. Dina Dublon 1,2 Former Chief Financial Officer, JPMorgan Chase. When (if) you are then promoted to 62, you are not expected to continue performing at a level 62 level, but rather a level 63 level.The reason that you have to perform at a new level before reaching it is to avoid the Peter Principle, being people promoted up to their level of incompetence. Don't just take a L63+ role because of the level. That sounded like a complete crock to me. I got to point where I resented my manager so much I could barely talk to him. Keep my word. Microsoft Software Engineering Manager salary levels ranges from 63 (SDE Lead) upto 80 (Corporate VP), with 80 (Corporate VP) level earning average salary of $4851k along with $3675k worth of stock options. Its difficult to transfer to a new position because at a high level, what group is going to take you on to a new position you have no experience in. Thanks M$Underpay. Your Recently Promoted L63 Peers: let's say you have at least one peer that in the past year or so has been promoted to L63. Is this a normal situation and should I not be worried? It can be a really discouraging time in your career, but if you can get past it youre headed for another amazing growth curve like the one that got you to level 62! Barring extraordindary circumstances each year you will get the "welcome to our group" evaluation.Don't forget the aunts and uncles. If you have potential and luck then you can achieve promotion velocity of one level every 18 months.Finally, heres my advice for who aspire for L62->L63 jump: Look around. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS & HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS Over 20+ years of experience working in large-scale real-time corporate environments Able to communicate concepts and details to clients, development team and testing team Excellent organization and communication skills, both written and verbal: clear and concise Knowledge of computer development software across multiple platforms . Promotion budgets of 65 and above has been kept intact.Where did you hear this? You dont have the same experience or abilities to perform in a core STB senior level role. Anyone moved from Office to some other part of company? Most gravitate to safe work that's in their comfort zone or work they enjoy. Hi,Now that the Annual review is approaching, I wanted to seek tips on justification putforth to the manager to move from L60-L61. In my opinion the visibility games are intentionally or inadvertently started by GMs and VPs. The education qualifications required for various roles for Technical track are: The highest job title in management track in Microsoft is "Vice President (VP)". .css-1odorsr{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;font-weight:700;}.css-1ln5qhx{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;font-weight:700;}.css-1dmvvgc{margin:0;color:#0060b9;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;font-weight:700;}Get your salary negotiated .css-1npej63{-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:1em;height:1em;display:inline-block;fill:currentColor;-webkit-flex-shrink:0;-ms-flex-negative:0;flex-shrink:0;-webkit-transition:fill 200ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0ms;transition:fill 200ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0ms;font-size:1.25rem;margin-left:-4px;}or your resume reviewed by the real experts - recruiters who do it daily. Skip-levels will not tolerate people who are not team players.Finally if your manager is new or at your level, the strategy is the same. I think your comments on level 63 were interesting. I know some managers will tell you that HR doesnt want promotions during internal transfers. Few others are long time softies who have been doing average to good job for very long time (3-7 years) without getting any promos. The position entails teaching an introductory physics sequence, upper-level physics courses, and related labs. It appears on 6.3% of resumes. To anonymous who has spent 3.5 years in role at MS. You're already blacklisted. Third, working on that weakness DAILY (but not exclusively) until they overcome it. I'm a level 66 dev (architect). In general, people are not leveled, jobs are. Yes, "soft skills" count.I'm pleased that someone said it.There are a collection of skills that are difficult to quantify that are absolute necessities to succeeding at higher levels. Amazon Senior finance leader with several years of experience as a member of executive teams within large Australian blue chip and global multi-national companies with broad and diverse background and wide-ranging experience. * Sell yourself: I know it sounds odd and contradictory. The average salary for a Senior Director is $170,707 per year in United States, which is 65% lower than the average Microsoft salary of $500,742 per year for this job. According to Glassdoor, senior software engineers at Google can earn $172,818 as their average base pay, along with average cash bonuses of $30,921, stock bonuses of $104,769, and some other cash incentives for a total of $201,000. If you have an itching to talk about something else, please go here: But Mini, I Want To Talk About Posted by Great post. While I lost a few people who drove great results in that level, overall it was good for their career and also MS over time. If you reach L63 during your time at Microsoft, especially if you started at L60 or below, you should celebrate. I asked them direct questions about what I needed to do to get the next promotion. The true professional with loads of potential is left to Sulk. I have known some that do what is barely enough for "achieve" just because it is safe. The conclusion: its price today! (this is never a bad idea anyway) Then, if you are doing as good a job as he, he will want you as a peer in level, if not, then he can help you grow. Propose a new one and spend a day in implementing it. don't make enemies), change jobs about once every 3-4 years, and do your job reasonably wellfor a decade. What are the levels for non eng roles? This number represents the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. The estimated base pay is $243,438 per year. Like many technology companies, Microsoft uses levels to indicate seniority for employees, including engineers. So far, I haven't been successful. The "how" now has broader impact. I haven't seen one single person getting hired below L63 in my group during last year. Somebody help me out here. Right now I am 56. Heck, we would be lucky if many can do even that well. For example, see http://www.intropsych.com/ch07_cognition/learning_curve.html. Embrace whatever people are saying are your flaws. If you can make the argument about the job - and you're in a position of strength, obviously harder now than in years past, you can make the case. Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. What's worse is the noise this creates. The average entry-level engineer or program manager will have a total compensation of $125,665. you need to hit the pause button for one big time-out regarding where you are, where you're going, and what needs to change. That didnt happen by chance alone. Its, actually, quite a short list. No one is born an experienced mgr and even the most experienced mgrs are not perfect. I only wish the internal MyMicrosoft blog had posts that were this valuable and insightful. ?I work in MSN and we still have no way to know the levels of our peers. Some of them don't have a very good idea of what a Level 65 does since they have not had much experience with those promotions. Is Director and Principal same level in Microsoft? - Quora Former is work of many years and long nights and proven track record while later is basically your ability to bullshit through 6 interviews. but I have to disagree with this statement.While it is true that it is difficult for managers to say what *exactly* an employee should do to get to the next level, it *should not* be impossible to list what experiences/qualities/results will qualify him to be a *strong* candidate for promotion to the next level.And this should not be that difficult - it is just a matter of syncing up with the peer leads, and dev manager, and discussing what their perception of an L63 is vs l62. work on your visibility. Now the setup team for most products has more than 6 devs. You can forge a great partnership and accomplish a lot. Don't be afraid to talk to your skip level manager regularly in such a situation, not to get promoted but because he can better help you grow.4. The Senior Director provides leadership, establishes operational objectives, policies, procedures and works plans and oversee the program to ensure maximum profitability through efficient service delivery, effective client management, and strategic allocation of resources. Chairman of the Board, Microsoft Corporation. >> Grammar nitpicking is fine when it's accurate.Wow, those sic[s] really are all [sic]s, and you went out of your way to refute them with invalid proofs and an assumed air of infallibility.Obviously you are a manager of HR managers soon to be promoted to GM. If they see flaws you have flaws. Worked my ass off and finally get recognized as Snr contributor. I have seen and known many of my own peers who don't get promoted because of potential but the number of people you know in the leadership team. Microsoft employees make an average base salary of $208k & a total compensation of $280k. I started at 59 and just got promoted to 63 a couple months ago. Don't be the roadblock. Then you're on the path to higher levels. Given all that, the two things that are key to promotion are:1) Your relationship with your skip level manager. The way to get to a higher level is to increase the scope of your contributions.In our group (somewhere in STB), L63 seems to begin with having at least 2 reports. Great post Mini. if they'd only stop doing X and start doing Y on a sustained basis, I could see it Microsoft: Citi Cuts Ests, Target On PC Slowdown. senior director - $446k . Nobody will be shy of firing you if you make a big mess. I've seen L65's who can't own a cardboard box, let alone a room.Well you know, don't go for them for advice! Who da'Punk And I'm hiring, yes, in this economy. i've been hearing this.. you know when you are about to cut a small feature and do balancing in your sprint/milestone essentially this is happening at VP level. The problem is you can't tell if you've done something to piss him off or if he's doing it because he has to. They can be wrong about exactly what these flaws are, but they aren't wrong that you are flawed. You can each help each other.I've gone from 59 to 65 so far, but maybe what worked for me won't work for you. Let's slim down Microsoft into a lean, mean, efficient customer pleasing profit making machine! Feedback is not detailed or actionable. Yes, "soft skills" count. Apple should in no way be throwing stones at Microsoft in this regard. I would lay some level of accountability with management as well, though. Why cannot we have our address title reflect our level as everybody else in the company? * It is true that working for the promotion should not be your only driver, but it is important for it to be "a" driver -- of course you should enjoy what you are doing while working to achieve that next level, but remember that you are not there to become a bench-warmer. L66 is Principal band. I'm now off the meds, not seeing the psychiatrist, and living happily.Working at MS was both the best time in my life and the worst time. Entry level (428) Associate (378) Mid-Senior level (3,385) Director (2,581) Done . Thoughts? Salman Riaz - Associate Director - S&P Global Market - LinkedIn I don't yet have any insight into what it might take to become a Partner, so I won't comment on that. If so I wish them good luck - as oppose to the US, these regions have laborlaws which makes it very hard for a company with Microsofts margin to lay people off. The money losing groups hires. That is, its hard to define, but I know it when I see it. Difference between getting promoted to L65 and joining as new FTE at L65 is HUGE. Kudos to you for posting it. Great post and comments. It's hard for L63. It's a knife fight to 63. "You might be too smart or have ideas that come from somewhere outside of Redmond which makes you very dangerous and not Microsoft material. Thanks.Sorry mini -- I meant the content of the comment I referenced, not the content of your original post (which I'm in violent agreement with). Ill answer first question later in this comment. The key thing is finding the right team and manager, along with the comments you made. Boeing, Go to company page Then L64 took two years. This is a really awesome post. The estimated total pay for a Senior Director at Microsoft is $500,742 per year. Only one can emerge, and not everyone can be a senior simultaneously. But on balance mgrs at MS get things right a lot more often than they get them wrong or we wouldnt be one of the most highly capitalized companies in the history of biz. So he is looking to become partner this year on the team's work. Microsoft senior leadership team under Satya Nadella Tech Here are the most important execs at Microsoft under Satya Nadella Jordan Novet @jordannovet Key Points Microsoft's executive team. If that means doing something you don't want to do, you might need a different manager (or company). I'm an SDE, so a large part of my time in the product cycle is spent fixing bugs. This is all well and good, but in 9years I've never worked in a group with a Senior IC (Windows, IE, .NET), though some architects. Oracle. You should leave. But in an organization this large, how do you avoid title inflation ? below 63 one has low influence and above 64, it is more strategizing and less execution.Overall, my experience has been that promotion is the effect of results and good work. I'd like to hear some more experiences from MCS. So, for those of you who are in orgs where it's 'easy' to get to L63 or L64 - think about transferring out BEFORE you get too high a level and paint yourself into a corner. I basically lost 5 years of growth due to a bad manager and my own unwillingness to own my career. Maybe Steve Jobs' psychotic approach to managing by terror is not properly described in English as "junk yard dog mode" (standing up for what needs to be done vs. mind-numbing consensus wallowing). The job is the same, just the levelling differs. Give the employee directives and start documenting when they fail so a case can be brought to get rid of them if it comes to that. This 360 review is confidential and you dont have to share it with your mgr unless you chose to do so. The good thing in most teams here is that if you persist, you will get there. And in your answer, there's a kicker follow-up: not only what you need to do to justify being promoted to L63, but to succeed in comparison to your L63 + L64 peers. This is certainly the course that I took. Attack problems within your own areas of influence proactively and generate that same good vibe among peers. I've also worked for great managers, and worked with great people on my team. you need to hit the pause button for one big time-out regarding where you are, where you're going, and what needs to change. Microsoft Director level role - Blind Benefits can add thousands of dollars to your offer. .css-1uhsr4o{margin-right:8px;}Get Paid, Not Played. These two lines really serve to summarize the incoherent blithering that was jcr's post.Whoa, really? They literally lived in GM's office for half a year to get the promo from L64 to L65.3.