A Day in the Life of a PM at Microsoft

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work as a Program Manager at Microsoft? TechTogether alum Natalie Pienkowska not only shares an inside scoop of what a PM does at Microsoft day-to-day but how she landed the gig as well! If you’re interested in roles like this, please make sure to sign up for TechTogether’s bi-weekly newsletter, where we share internship and full-time opportunities! Click here to sign-up.

The PM Role

When I started my computer science degree five years ago, I had no clue that the program manager role even existed. Luckily, I came across the role through one of my best friends from high school in a discussion about why we didn’t want to be software engineers.

After being in the role for over a year, I admit that I still can’t provide the perfect definition because of the breadth of interpersonal and technical skills. Still, I’ll give it a shot- Program managers strive to understand the needs of their customers and the market through data so that they can empower their organization to invest in the most impactful features, projects, and programs.

Unknowingly, I gravitated towards PM-like work through leadership roles and projects during my college experience. Here are just two examples of extracurricular roles I held that were important to my PM journey:

• Scouting for tech projects from startups and writing specs as X-Lab Student Director at Boston University Spark!

Throughout this role, I found my love for “customer empathy” by learning how to interview others about their problems and how tech can solve some of those concerns. I also learned how to format and write lengthy specs that would empower engineers to work on the solution.

• Helping organize and fundraise for the first TechTogether hackathon (SheHacks)

Although fundraising isn’t something that I do as a PM today, I was able to hone my cross-team collaboration skills and my negotiation skills when talking to potential sponsors. Through at least 3–4 hours of meetings each day, I try to be the glue that brings everyone together for a common goal.

How Did I Get a Full Time Role at Microsoft?

Discovering the PM internship at Microsoft was quite serendipitous. In my sophomore year, I attended the Monthly Civic Tech Coffee in Boston to amplify SheHacks and BU Spark! and find opportunities to collaborate with some of the best minds in the Greater Boston area. Over time, I realized that Microsoft sponsored the meetup and that the leader of the group worked at Microsoft!

At one point, I decided to muster up the courage to tell them that I was interested in the program manager internship and that I wanted to speak to a program manager in the Cambridge office to see if the role and the company was a great fit. She kindly helped me find the right person to talk to, and shortly after my informational interview, I mustered up some courage yet again to ask for a referral. Before I could blink twice, I was on an interview loop at the Microsoft Headquarters.

After a successful internship on the Power Query product, I returned full-time to work on the low-code workflow automation space. Today, I lead certification programs and some developer experiences for non-Microsoft Power Platform connectors. I know that sounds a bit complicated, but connectors are API wrappers to external services that we use every day, such as Gmail, Adobe products, Spotify, and more. Without connectors, you cannot build low-code apps and workflows that involve those external services.

A Day in My Life as a PM at Microsoft

My workdays vary significantly; some days are filled with numerous conferences and other presentations at once, while other weeks I’m trying to sort out a huge issue that came up with one of the features or programs.

Wake Up, Natalie!

I’m sure all of you non-morning people might cringe when reading this: I wake up anywhere between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. with the help of around 10 alarms. I throw on a comfortable t-shirt (my go-to is my Nutella shirt) unless I have an important customer call or presentation, for which I will wear a cute button-down. I try to meditate and write in my gratitude journal almost everyday to help myself set a positive tone and seize the day!

Before Lunchtime

First, I look at the Eisenhower Matrix that I wrote up the day before, which helps me prioritize what I need to do during the day. Once I have my important and urgent priorities in my head, I spend around 20 minutes reading and responding to my emails.

This part of the workday is mainly dedicated to independent work, career learning and growth, and customer calls, especially with customers located in Europe, as the Eastern time zone does come in handy! My independent work consists of writing 1-pagers to describe a high-level overview of the problem statement and proposed solution, detailed specs on the end-to-end of the feature or program, creating presentation decks for calls with customers, planning for the next semester, and analyzing data to understand the current state of the products and features.

Since one of the programs I run is community-oriented, I spend a few minutes engaging on Twitter and LinkedIn. This social media work is a perfect example of something I never expected a PM to do, but it’s great evidence of the kinds of work you can be doing as a PM.

Sometime around 11 a.m.

Lunchtime! My go-to is a Trader Joe’s frozen meal. Sometimes, I go for a 30-minute session at the gym by my house right before I eat, as it quite literally helps me step away from work.

After Lunchtime (Snack time, I guess?)

My entire team is located on the west coast, so this is when most folks hop online. Simultaneously, it means this is the time when I take most of my meetings (accompanied by snacks) with engineers, marketing, technical writers, team meetings, and planning meetings. In addition to planning out features at least six months in advance, making sure features in development are on track, and maintaining the health of features, I also hold the position of Community Chair at my organization’s LGBTQIA+ chapter, where I help plan events for our community and allies. It’s helped me meet a lot of incredible people, especially since I joined remotely.

Leaving the “Office”

My last two activities of the day are writing up the next day’s Eisenhower Matrix and spending 10–15 minutes on high priority emails. I close my laptop around 4 p.m., eat dinner, and enjoy the rest of the day up until my (early) bedtime which is around 10:30 p.m. In order to set strong boundaries, I don’t have any work-related apps on my phone.

Ultimately, I’m very grateful to 1) have the opportunity to design and improve processes and features 2) have a team that’s supportive of all my endeavors (and of my working hours) 3) work on impactful products and 4) experience the perks and extracurriculars of working at Microsoft.

If you ever want to learn more about my experience or need someone to review your resume, find me on LinkedIn!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and I am not speaking on behalf of Microsoft.

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