business backgrounder | employment & workplace
Kelley, a former submarine logistics lieutenant who leads the veteran recruitment effort at Microsoft, said this program
finds and mentors service members with qualifications and leadership skills. Many of the participants were in communications
and technology jobs in the military but lacked experience with coding. The Software & Systems Academy aims to give them
that solid grounding in the language of computing. It also delivers a crucial dose of confidence for people who might not
realize just how well they could fit at the world’s largest software company.
“We really wanted to roll out the red carpet and say, ‘You totally belong here. We’ll hire you directly if you have skills
you’ve learned or leadership experience,’” Kelley said.
sound practices
A self-described “long-term technologist,” Bergan moved to Seattle and attended career fairs in search of a high-tech job,
figuring he’d need to work his way up through in-person networking and a series of jobs with smaller firms. He noticed that
Microsoft was a sponsor at every event he visited.
“Being in the military, you learn there are sound practices that keep businesses healthy, and somehow Microsoft has figured
that out,” Bergan said.
Bergan said his Special Forces training was intense and unusual on-the-job training, and he thinks his time at Microsoft
will be just as educational.
Some learning environments,
w h e t h e r i n t h e Pa s h t u n
at a glance
mountains or at Seattle’s
premiere tech firm, will
Microsoft created the Software &
deliver lessons you just can’t
Systems Academy to give an intensive,
get anywhere else, he said.
16-week entrance into coding and
He also has bigger
other high-tech essentials for military
aspirations for his generation
members who were transitioning out of
of veterans. Like the wave
service. Each member of this first class
of World War II service
was guaranteed an interview at Micromembers who used the
soft and a job at the company or one of
GI Bill and became CEOs,
its consulting partners.
leading American businesses
during the middle of the 20th
The program took place at Joint Base
century, he wants to be part
Lewis-McChord in partnership with
of a new renaissance that
Saint Martin’s University. The service
brings the best of qualities
members took classes all day while
of a soldier — loyalty, work
being paid by the military, an innovation
ethic, focus — to build great
made possible by the 2011 Veterans
companies.
Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire
“I need to be a part of what
Heroes Act, sponsored by U.S. Sen.
causes America to be great
Patty Murray, D-Wash.
again,” Bergan said. “This
was not only eye-opening, it
With lessons learned from this first-ever
showed how much corporate
class, the program is being expanded to
Top photo: Sean Kelley, Microsoft recruiter, former Navy
and government partnerships
military bases in California and Texas.
lieutenant. Bottom photo: Sgt. Bernard Bergan accepts his
can mean to American society
Microsoft wants to bring on more
Software & Systems Academy certificate.
as a whole.”
high-tech companies as partners, saying
“Part of why I joined the Army is it’s an institution that
demands excellence and has a global impact. To be able to go
from that to another institution that is known for excellence
and has a global impact is phenomenal.”
there are thousands of tech companies
hungry for new employees with the
kind of experience the military provides
and the solid base of computer skills
made possible through the Software &
Systems Academy.
— Sgt. Joshua Gray, a new member of Microsoft’s Global Foundation Systems team
winter/spring 2014 37