The early-morning journey to the European headquarters of Microsoft today was no cake walk but ended up being totally worth it in the end. Today was our first time using public transportation in Ireland, and we quickly found out that it’s quite different from what were used to in Pittsburgh. Nonetheless, we got to Microsoft only a few minutes late, and began our day there.

Prior to the site visit, I honestly didn’t have much of an opinion of Microsoft. I knew that they’re a large technology company, with a lot of successful products and services on the market. After today, I learned a lot more about Microsoft as a business, their company culture, and many of their initiatives for a variety of different things: sustainability, accessibility, and more. I found these initiatives to be especially interesting. They talked about how Microsoft plans to be carbon negative and produce zero waste by 2030, which I thought was promising. A lot of carbon emissions come from large companies such as Microsoft, so it was great to hear that they are taking several initiatives to combat climate change and do their part. Additionally, they showed us a video of the accessibility controller for Xbox which I thought was an amazing addition to their traditional product.

I think it would be great to work at Microsoft. I may be biased simply because of how much I loved their office space, but aside from that, the things Nicholas talked about seemed like I would really fit in with their company culture. They focus on diversity and inclusion, being customer obsessed, and have a growth mindset. These are all things I value in a potential employer, and therefore think I would enjoy working at Microsoft. We learned a lot today and I plan to take this new knowledge to our tour of the financial district tomorrow with Dr. Kelley!