A brief introduction about yourself
I am Atharva Vankundre, a final year student in IDC. My academic interests are in illustration, animation, communication and interaction design. My hobbies include running (I trained for the IITB half marathon), hitchhiking and eating fish.
How did you find out about this internship and what made you pursue it?
Microsoft came at Day 1 in the internship drive organised by the placement team, looking for ‘UX Designer Interns’. A few seniors (shoutout Mohak Gulati) whose work I look up to had interned and joined Microsoft, so I was excited to apply too. Although to be fair, I had absolutely no hope of getting in.
Could you describe the selection/ interview process?
Microsoft shortlists candidates based on their resumes. Interviews are scheduled for the shortlisted candidates on Day 1. These interviews are conducted online by one or more Microsoft employees, usually with 5+ years of experience. I was pretty nervous as this would be my first ever professional interview.
My first round had two members in the panel, who were both quite friendly and easy to talk to. After a brief introduction, they asked me to share my screen and talk about an individual project of my choice. I talked at length about my project “Fish Out of Water”, an illustrated essay about Mumbai’s fishing community, the Kolis. Although the interviewers liked the project, they pointed out that there was no UX element in the final output. They asked me come up with a few ideas for an output that an organization like Microsoft could use. I was not prepared for this, and asked for a few minutes to think and sketch on my notepad. I told them that Microsoft could work on educating the consumers and increase awareness about ethical and sustainable fish consumption. I acknowledged that it would be difficult for the company to communicate only about fish, so I proposed that it could include complete nutritional information, including vegetables, dairy, pulses etc.
Since we were on the topic of food, it gave me an opportunity to segway smoothly into my next project, which was an online shop network for local Sabziwalas. As this was a group project, I was asked to mention exactly what I did in it. I was asked a few questions about the final output and user testing we had done. I tried to answer them as honestly as possible. The interview ended here, and I heaved a sigh of relief. I hadn’t held a smile for so long ever before in my life.
About an hour after the first round of interviews, a few people were shortlisted for the second round. To my surprise, my name was there on the list too. The second round was much shorter, and there was only one interviewer. We went through some of my individual projects again, and he asked me technical questions about the fonts and colours I had used. I also asked him what the job would be like. The interview ended here, and I let out an even bigger sigh of relief.
No more smiling for the day, only nervous anxiety about the results of the interview. This was the only company I had been shortlisted for, so this was my only hope. By some miraculous stroke of luck, I was selected. Although this was conveyed to me unofficially by the internship coordinators, I refused to believe it till I saw my name on the placement blog.
How did you prepare for the internship?
The IDC course curriculum helped greatly, especially the UX and Interaction Techniques courses with Prof. Anirudha Joshi. Apart from that, experience in the design team at Insight and other freelance projects helped too.
Could you brief us about the work allotted to you?
I was part of the Windows + Experiences team at Microsoft, which worked on designing new experiences for Windows operating system. During my two-month internship, my main project was to design user-centric solutions to enhance content safety in Windows using artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, I can’t share more details about it as it is under NDA.
Alongside my main project, I also created illustrations for a new feature in Windows’ Out of Box Experience (OOBE). These illustrations will soon be on Windows PCs worldwide!
How has the experience of working been? What was the process of shifting to a new city like? (if applicable)
Working at Microsoft was pretty nice. The working hours were flexible, but my team usually had a meeting at 10:00 am so I had to be in the office by then. When you got bored from work, you could jam in the music room, play table tennis or pool, read a book, grab a (free) snack from the vending machine or take a (long) nap in the nap pods. Occasionally, there were company sponsored trips and parties.
My work location was in Hyderabad, and it was my first time living away from home (I am from Mumbai only). My two batchmates (also interns at Microsoft) and I had rented a fully furnished two bhk flat together. It took about a week to settle into the new flat. On weekends, we explored Hyderabad, saw historic forts, museums and parks and ate some truly historic food. The weather was amiable too, and it was easy to get around most of the times.
What is something you wish you had known before the internship?
I wish someone had told me not to touch the fire alarm.
What were the challenges that you had to overcome during your internship? Could you share some of the learnings you picked up along the way?
I wish I had planned my project better. It took me a long time to narrow down the scope of my solution. This is something that isn’t really focused on in college projects, where the scope is already defined for you. My manager helped me with this, and I had to pull several all-nighters to be able to complete my project before the deadline. I also learnt to work with a team, and held brainstorming sessions which helped me come up with great ideas I wouldn’t have been able to myself. I would also ask my teammates very basic doubts about the software we were using, and they were kind enough to explain it to me. I’d say don’t be afraid to ask your teammates for help any time during your internship, just as you would in college. It is also important to take ownership of your projects, and deliver on what you have promised.
The internship at Micosoft was a great opportunity to learn and network, and I am excited to join them again as a full time employee next year!
