Microsoft’s #bethenext Is Underway!

I just finished with the first episode of Microsoft’s Be The Next Employee reality webshow. It was much better than I had hoped it would be! There was drama, action, a good level of geekiness, and a healthy dose of Buck Woody (blog | @buckwoody). I think most shows could use a visit from Buck. I was curious how Microsoft was going to explain why someone from HR (Tim DiMarco was on rotation that week) needs to be within 10 feet of Buck at all times and they did a nice job by explaining that Tim was there to evaluate the contestants as well.

Before I go any further I need to ask one thing: where is that house, and why don’t we hold any PASS functions there? Also, were they using the bat cave (AKA, the Great Room)? I’m still waiting for my invite into that room someday. Also, I got excited when I saw them pass out those laptops for everyone to use. I expect they are being given out to the judges, guest judges, and show reviewers as well. I know they filmed weeks ago, so mine is likely in transit as you read this.

I loved hearing Tim use the phrase “turn the complex technical into something understandable”, what I believe is a key skill for anyone to be successful. When I heard that phrase I knew I was going to find the upcoming task and solutions to be very interesting to watch.

The task given to the contestants was to answer two questions about the product inventory contained within a database on a thumb drive. They didn’t mention if the contestants got to keep that thumb drive, but my first question was “is that a 16GB drive?” They had one hour to complete the task and we got to see each contestent talk about how they approached the problem as well as some sidebars. One of which was Stacy who said “…technology does exactly what you ask it to do.” That was music to my ears, naturally.

So with all four of them working in the room on their task a few things stood out. I made a list and put them into a bulleted form because geeks love bulleted lists:

• All four have different strengths. This reminds me about how one DBA is not like another. Some DBAs do more development work than others who are busy racking serves.
• Each of them appear to be nervous, but Stacy and Alex seem more nervous to me than Boston Mike or Chris.
• Alex finished first and then apparently didn’t use the rest of his time to check his work. My first reaction was to yell at the screen and say “CHECK YOUR WORK! USE THE TIME YOU HAVE!”.

The contestants needed to then explain their answers to Buck, Tim, and Tobias. Alex went first, described his solution, and was then stumped by Tobias (the guest judge for this week) asking a probing question about data quality. Alex leaves the room and we then hear Buck tell us that Alex’s used the wrong database. Oops.

Stacy was next and she looked and sounded very nervous. Who wouldn’t be, right? I’m not sure I’d want to be in front of the world and have them judge my technical skills in this manner. That is a lot of pressure. She didn’t finish the task but at least she pulled data from the right database!

Boston Mike came in next and stood out in two ways. First, he explained what he did in terms simple enough for most to understand. Then, he told them the answer. Lastly, he finished up by talking about how he checked his work. He also mentioned his toolbox of scripts, something that every DBA (or master craftsman) has built up over the years. At this point, I have Boston Mike in the lead even though I still can’t figure out why Boston Mike has ‘NYC’ in his twitter handle.

Chris came in and essentially said “hey, I didn’t finish, but I was working on it”. Chris took too long with this task because he was checking his work every step of the way. I like that. I am a big fan of making small changes and seeing the effects. I would rather have something take 10 minutes longer now and have it be correct than to spend hours later still trying to make it work. The question I have about Chris at this point isn’t about his technical skills, but his communication skills.

They brought back in all four contestants and Boston Mike was the winner for this challenge.

I’m concerned that Alex is trying to rush through the assignments in order to prove he is smart, and Stacy is too nervous to help explain something technically complex in terms that are understandable for others. If those trends continue they won’t be getting that dream job.

I really enjoyed this show and I can’t wait for next week!