About PM Engage
Microsoft is deeply rooted in the philosophy of learning and coaching. We believe in nurturing talent as well as learning from them. PM Engage is our effort to educate, mentor and thereby actively produce the future PM talent. We provide an opportunity for MBA students across B-schools in India to know more about the PM role by attending PM workshops, participating in Microsoft PM challenge - case study competition, and getting mentored by a Microsoft Product Manager virtually.
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Attend PM workshops
Know the ins-and-outs of PM role with a seasoned Microsoft PM and learn basics of product oriented problem solving through workshops. You will be informed about the dates for PM workshop at your respective B-school by the placement team.
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Submit case study proposals
Apply your learnings to solve PM challenge and submit your entries adhering to the guidelines shared with your college.
Pro tip: Answer the ‘who’ and ‘why’ before the ‘what’ when you begin ideating. Utilize learnings from the PM workshop held by Microsoft at your campus.
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Mentorship
Best teams from each B-school will get a chance to be mentored by a seasoned Microsoft PM. If you get shortlisted as a mentee, you will be informed about the timeline for mentorship by your placement team.
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Compete for the final spot
Top team from each B-School competes for the podium at national level finals.
Who can participate
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Full time 1-year MBA
(1) ISB Hyderbad
(2) ISB Mohali
PGP1 and PGP2/PGPX
(1) IIM Ahmedabad
(2) IIM Bangalore
(3) IIM Calcutta
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PGP1 and PGP2
(1) FMS
(2) IIM Kozhikode
PGP1
(1) IIFT Delhi
(2) IIM Indore
(3) IIM Shillong
(4) IMT Ghaziabad
(5) MDI Gurgaon
(6) NMIMS Mumbai
Product Manager at Microsoft
As the in-house advocate for the millions of people worldwide who use Microsoft products, you drive the vision, design, implementation, and market success of next-generation software solutions. As the owner and advocate of your product components, some questions that you would be addressing through your role are:
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It’s all about the customer
Who is the customer? What customer problem am I addressing?
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Customer experience
How do I deliver the best customer experience possible?
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Design, develop, deploy
How do I take the product from conceptualization to launch?
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Design a product
What product solution do I craft to address this gap?
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Best product solution
Does the product solution meet the business need (revenue, brand, etc.)?
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Teamwork
How do I work with marketing, and various sales channels to drive adoption?
Roles and responsibilities of a PM at Microsoft
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Building a product
Lots of whiteboarding, storyboarding, sketching, and designing, iterating with engineering on tradeoffs between priority, timelines, capabilities, partnering across teams in Microsoft to deliver the solution, performing usability studies, planning versions, legal, marketing, monetization plans etc.
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Defining and executing product strategy and roadmap
Defining who the product is for, identifying the fundamental problem that we are solving, understanding the competition, and our core positioning with respect to the competition, identifying our approach to the market and partnerships.
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Connecting with the customer
Evangelizing the product through customer connect, being the ‘face’ of the product, experimentation, and data analysis, iterating on feedback and learnings.
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PM challenge over the years
An after movie of the final round of PM challenge 2019 where students from the top B-schools represented their competed for a cash prize.
Program guidance
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Case study submission -
Final submission guidelines -
Mentorship
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Problem definition approximately 400 words – focus on why – problem, customer value, business value.
Feature description approximately 900 words – focus on how – features leading to solutions for user scenarios.
Workflow max 1 page (2 slides) – UX design, flow charts etc.
Goals and non-goals approximately 200 words – focus on what – requirements and user scenarios that you aim to solve/not solve.
Success metrics approximately 200 words – how to evaluate success for the features planned and the overall product.
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Separate tracks of final round for PGP1 & PGP2/PGPX/1-Year MBA
The top team from each campus will get 2 weeks to prepare for the final round post announcement of the final challenge.
Multiple submissions per team are allowed; the last of which would be considered for evaluation.
Each team submission should have a functional specification along with a PowerPoint presentation. Functional spec documents to have the same structure as campus round.
Each team will get 10 minutes to present their solution to the Microsoft leadership panel in the final round; followed by 5-10 minutes for Q&A.
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Shortlisted teams will be assigned Microsoft PMs as mentors.
Multiple engagement and evaluation touchpoints wherein students will interact with Microsoft PMs during their mentorship journey and learn about - life of PM at Microsoft, how to build products by working on a case study and expectations out of a PM candidate during interviews.
Mentorship will span over roughly 2 weeks with the following focus areas:
- Case-based interaction(s)
- One-on-one sessions
- Profile improvisation discussion
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Problem definition approximately 400 words – focus on why – problem, customer value, business value.
Feature description approximately 900 words – focus on how – features leading to solutions for user scenarios.
Workflow max 1 page (2 slides) – UX design, flow charts etc.
Goals and non-goals approximately 200 words – focus on what – requirements and user scenarios that you aim to solve/not solve.
Success metrics approximately 200 words – how to evaluate success for the features planned and the overall product.
-
Separate tracks of final round for PGP1 & PGP2/PGPX/1-Year MBA
The top team from each campus will get 2 weeks to prepare for the final round post announcement of the final challenge.
Multiple submissions per team are allowed; the last of which would be considered for evaluation.
Each team submission should have a functional specification along with a PowerPoint presentation. Functional spec documents to have the same structure as campus round.
Each team will get 10 minutes to present their solution to the Microsoft leadership panel in the final round; followed by 5-10 minutes for Q&A.
-
Shortlisted teams will be assigned Microsoft PMs as mentors.
Multiple engagement and evaluation touchpoints wherein students will interact with Microsoft PMs during their mentorship journey and learn about - life of PM at Microsoft, how to build products by working on a case study and expectations out of a PM candidate during interviews.
Mentorship will span over roughly 2 weeks with the following focus areas:
- Case-based interaction(s)
- One-on-one sessions
- Profile improvisation discussion
Resources you can leverage for preparing for the PM role
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PM role at Microsoft
Meet Bobby, a Program Manager at Microsoft. See how he mixes his career with his passions outside of work.
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Day in the life of a PM
Hear from Philip, a recent university hire on what it’s really like to work at Microsoft.
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How to prepare for a PM interview
Prepare for your interview with tips, tricks, and the inside scoop from Program Managers Anjay and Grace, and Chelsea, University Recruiter.
Life at Microsoft
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https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/benefits
Benefits
Explore Microsoft’s world-class benefits designed to help you and your family live well.
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https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/culture
Culture
We will only achieve our mission if we live our culture, which starts with applying a growth mindset.
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https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/diversityandinclusion
Diversity and inclusion
We are committed to celebrating the diversity around us and its power to drive us forward together.
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https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/flexible-work
Flexible work
At Microsoft, we value flexibility as part of our hybrid workplace so that you can feel empowered to do your best work.
