I interviewed for the position of "Senior Software Engineer" at Microsoft Romania for three months, from July to October 2024. During this period, I was evaluated five times based on technical skills and received positive feedback from the developers via the recruiter regarding my outstanding technical expertise.

In October 2024, I interviewed with the manager of the newly formed cloud team. I explained my desire to participate in the company's progress and my dreams of becoming a technical leader. He didn't seem to value my technical expertise, even though Microsoft prides itself on promoting values, leaders, and gender balance within the company. The reason given was a conflict of interest with my current company, although I explained in the interview that I would dedicate myself to Microsoft and represent the company well.

At the end of October 2024, the recruiter found another manager, a female this time, who didn't even want to speak with me.

Conclusions: My technical expertise did not matter at all. When I asked for the reason for the rejection, I did not receive an answer. I can only assume the reasons were to avoid competition with their "political protégés," and possibly because I was an American, seasoned female who, among other languages, speaks Japanese. Thus, the technical feedback given by five experienced developers mattered not at all.

In the USA, managers are very humble because in a true democracy, the team's decision matters more than their individual decision. In Romania, it is the reverse: the "people manager's" instincts would have to "like" the candidate, as if this were not a technical job! The candidate's technical experience and prowess absolutely do not matter. This sets people up for the well-known "kiss-up-kick-down" mentality, not meritocracy. Old communist habits die hard in Romania.

Code technical problems in the language of my choice.