Ask HN: I have 1 year before starting to work at Microsoft. What should I learn?

5 points by andremat 12 years ago | 5 comments

I'm from Brazil, almost getting my CS degree. Microsoft has offered me a job as a Software Development Engineer. Because of visa bureacracies, my start date is 1 year from now. So, HN, what kind of skills should I brush up?

arbinder 12 years ago |

It's a very legitimate question since most of the H1-B applicants go through a similar waiting period in between the job offer and start working. However, in my humble opinion this question would have had a longer lifetime and better answers if you had posted in Quora.

I am in a similar situation with a joining date in next October. I decided to finish reading the books I never had time for reading, work on a few community projects and spend more time with my family. I hope it won't get too boring.

Wezc 12 years ago |

Congrats !

Do you know the job description ? On what subject will you work ? I would suggest to be fluent in C#, C++ and the .NET framwork. Btw: How did MS make you an offer ? You applied or they came for you ?

Avalaxy 12 years ago |

Depends on what you're going to do... General stuff like 'Writing secure code' and 'introduction to algorithms' are useful to read.

tostitos1979 12 years ago |

Become fluent in C# at least. Get experience with the CLR. Learn about unit testing. Watch Tudors to learn about court intrigue.

ye 12 years ago |