Microsoft's Kiwis make move to the mothership

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks during a keynote session at the Microsoft Developers Build Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 29, 2015

One of the benefits of working for a multinational is the chance to live and work overseas. For some Kiwis that means relocating to the centre of their career's world. For a chef that might be Paris, a banker London or New York, and a tech worker, the west coast of the United States.

That's what Microsoft employees Corina Radovanovich, Bradley Borrows, Scott Wylie, Paul Andrew and many others have done. After climbing the corporate ladder here, they sought opportunities at Microsoft's "mothership" in Seattle. Also known as the Microsoft "campus" and "corp", the Seattle operation sports more than 120 buildings, sitting on 200 hectares, employs more than 17,000 people, and employs some of the best tech brains in the world. Landing on the "mothership" is the pinnacle of many Kiwis' careers at Microsoft.

Corina Radovanovich started her career in New Zealand at American Express, where she discovered a passion for multinational companies. She moved to a contract role at Microsoft, and was lucky to land a full time staff role soon afterwards.

The commercial communications manager at Microsoft was always aware she wanted to move to the US, the country of her birth, and started making contacts at "corp", picking the brains of Seattle-based employees she came into contact with.

Job hunting in Seattle was made easier because her first job in New Zealand was what's known as a MACH programme role (Microsoft Academy for College Hires), which meant she was put through an accelerated management programme.

In late 2012 she "reached out" to her contacts at Microsoft asking them for 30-minute meetings during a trip to Seattle.

Making the move to head office was an eye opener. Whereas there might be two or three people to connect with at Microsoft in New Zealand to complete a project, at "corp" there could be hundreds whose roles had an interest in seeing a particular objective met, says Radovanovich.

Some employees are plucked from the farthest reaches of Microsoft. Bradley Borrows had risen to the top of his field at Microsoft New Zealand. He had won a Microsoft Circle of Excellence award. Only 20 such awards are given out worldwide every year.

He turned down a number of offers to move to the US, but finally took the plunge when he realised he had reached a ceiling in his career in New Zealand.

Paul Andrew was looking for a career move and applied actively for roles in the US. In New Zealand Andrew worked in developer evangelism.

His move to the US pushed him up the ladder and ten years later he is now senior technical product manager of Office 365 in Seattle.

Kiwi Scott Wylie has 20 years Microsoft tenure under his belt and had always had the desire to work at the mothership. "I was working in senior leadership role in the New Zealand subsidiary. There was nowhere to go in terms of my interests and skills.

In January 2013 he boarded a plane for a role as director of developer content in Seattle.

A plan for how to land that job at the global headquarters of an organisation is essential. Look at what you enjoy doing at your subsidiary, says Andrew. "You need to think 'what is my focus area that will get me noticed'."

Sometimes people think they have to get to the top of their discipline to take the leap. That's not the case, says Borrows. There are opportunities at every level - as Radovanovich found out.

Stepping up to roles in the US does require a mind reset. "Don't say: 'back in New Zealand we do it like this'?" which some Kiwis have a tendency to do, says Borrows. "Be ready to embrace change."

Diana Clement travelled to Seattle courtesy of Microsoft.