In every job I've had since working at Microsoft PSS, I wasn't just the Web Administrator, or the Sr. Web Developer... no, I'm also The Microsoft Guy (tm). This apparently gives me the ability to solve every problem, be an expert in every matter, do everyone else's job for them (including management), and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Well, maybe not that last one...
I'm not saying I allow people to push their job responsibilities on me; goodness knows
I've got enough developement work on my desk now to keep me busy through the end of
the year. However, it does allow me to ever-expand my cluefulness by
letting people make the assumption I have at least as much if not a little bit more
knowledge about Microsoft Product X than they do. It also made it a lot easier to
convince the VP to pay for my trip to the PDC :)
The downside, if you haven't figured it out already, is that I am consistently
interrupted. Not as much as I was when I was doing mostly IT work mind you, but
more than I'd like to be by a long shot. So it goes.
Before I go, I have to say that I don't regret having the experience from Microsoft
that I do. It has certainly opened doors for me, and most importantly, working where
I did - with Product Support Services - I have refined my knowledge base searching
skills to a fine point. At Microsoft, "knowledge base" means that, the MSKB. Out here
"knowledge base" means Internet... and I can still find anything I want, in amazingly
short periods of time.
Now if only I hadn't started my latest job 2 weeks after the annual review... sigh.
- G
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