Microsoft LEAP Application: My Personal Experience (Part 1)
I applied twice to the Microsoft LEAP Apprenticeship program for UX Design. The first one was in October 2019 and the 2nd was in December 2020. Here is my experience in my 1st attempt.
On this blog, I’ll be specifically focusing on my personal experience. Microsoft did a great job explaining the step-by-step process of the application on the official LEAP website so I won’t be repeating it here. In Part 1, I’ll be talking about my 1st attempt, and in Part 2, my 2nd attempt (duh). I’m also including a side-by-side timeline of both attempts on the latter. Coming soon is a separate blog for my interview experience. So hang tight.
Attempt #1 - I got to the interviews
The October 2019 application was for the very first UX Design cohort of the LEAP program. I learned about the program a week before the deadline so I rushed into finishing my application.
Here was my process.
Step 1: Made sure my resume & LinkedIn profile are updated.
Luckily, I was actively applying to jobs at that time so I already have an updated resume and LinkedIn profile.
Step 2: Typed in resume on Github Gist
This can be a frustrating experience. I already knew how to use Markdown formatting and Github for almost 2 years. But even with that, it still took me 87 revisions (yes, it’s 87) to finally nail my resume. Markdown formatting can be tricky especially if you’re particular with how you want your document to look. If I was not applying for a design position, I probably would have not been that obsessive with the formatting. But since I was, and I was a bit paranoid that I would be judged based on how I presented my resume, I painstakingly formatted it away.
TIP:
You don’t have to wait for the opening of the LEAP application window to start creating your resume on Github Gist. So you can start as soon as possible. You’d only have to provide the gist link on your application form.
After you submit your application, you won’t be able to edit the application form itself. But you can still edit your resume via Github gist since it’s not directly tied to the application form. The same goes for your LinkedIn profile. I edited mine 1 month after I submitted my actual application. I gained some more experience and also won a hackathon award within that time period so I figured it could boost my chances if they have not looked at my application yet.
I never really knew if it did help but I thought it was worth the risk.
Step 3: Drafted my essays
I knew it’s going to take me lots of revisions to be satisfied with my essay so I started a draft when I needed a break from the resume formatting. The questions are not particularly hard. The hard part is making sure my content stands out from the hundreds of potential applicants. From my sales experience, I learned that people don’t remember what you say. They remember what you make them feel. So I made sure my essays can communicate the feeling I want my readers to feel.
These were the essay questions for the 1st UX Design cohort:
- Describe a design project that you completed. Include your rationale for your design decisions.
- What was the most challenging part of the project? And how did you manage that challenge?
I instantly knew the topic I wanted to talk about on the 1st essay but not on the 2nd. I went for my bootcamp capstone project called Filo. I chose it for 2 reasons.
- That’s the one I did the most research on and different kinds of tests for.
- It’s the project that got the most feedback from other designers.
Because of those 2 reasons, I felt that my rationale for my design decisions for that project was the most solid. Therefore, I can talk about them with more conviction.
For the 2nd question, I looked at the project holistically. I didn’t limit myself to the technical challenges because, honestly, those were not the most challenging part of the project. The hardest part was dealing with my negative self-dialogue. During the process of the project, I got so tough on myself that I had a hard time forgiving myself for my mistakes.
I didn’t come up with that topic right away. It took me a couple of drafts before I realized that that was the most challenging part of the project for me. So here goes another tip.
TIP:
Don’t obsess over getting the right topic on your 1st draft. It may naturally come while you’re reflecting on your experience.
Step 4: Tied up loose ends & had somebody else review my work
I went go back and forth doing the Markdown format of my resume and writing my essay. But the essays took the longest for sure. I was editing my essay until the day I submitted my application. When I’m finally happy with my work, I had my husband review it for me. As expected, he caught grammar mistakes, typos, and other opportunities for improvement.
TIP:
I highly suggest you have somebody else review your work too. The pressure of a deadline and the 1000x you’ve looked at the same body of work can make you miss out on the small things.
Disclaimer: I made an exception for this blog post and the ones after it. I’m trying to publish them asap as I’ve been receiving a lot of request to talk about my LEAP experience lately. If you find any mistake, please don’t hesitate to call them out. I’d appreciate it. Seriously. :)
Step 5: Finished the online application form
I’m not 100% sure my recollection of the form is accurate so I seek the help of my fellow LEAPers (shoutout to Mahogany, Jay, Lola, & Maliha). These were the info we collectively remembered that were asked of us.
In no particular order:
- Basic personal info (name & contact details)
- LinkedIn account
- US work authorization
- Previous work experience at Microsoft (in any capacity- contract, full-time, intern, etc)
- Willingness to relocate
- Essays
- Github gist link for the resume
I believe the application form fields for the 1st and 2nd UX Design cohorts were the same. I wasn’t able to validate them with the folks from the 1st cohort though because I want to publish this blog asap. I may update it at some point.
I submitted the application form on October 27 (4 days before the deadline). I received an email receipt on the same day. After 23 days, I jumped for joy when I got the invitation for the interview! It was from Aerotek — the contracting agency for the LEAP program. That was my very first legit job interview invitation for a UX position so you can imagine my excitement. And it was for a dream company nonetheless!
I interviewed on December 11 and got the result 6 days later. As I preemptively said earlier, I didn’t make it all the way through. It was still a fun experience though and something that made my UX journey all the more precious. Nothing came easy to me.
Resources:
Filo — the project I talked about on my essays.
Microsoft LEAP official website
My LinkedIn profile — for short contents, I’ll mostly post them on LinkedIn instead of here. Follow me on both platforms so you don’t miss anything.