When people leave Microsoft, they go to...

Image courtesy of Seattle Times

I've used LinkedIn throughout my career to not only connect with other people, but to conduct research.It's super helpful when you want to understand the make-up of a pool of people that you can isolate with an advanced search.

Today, I thought I'd go in and look at the companies Microsoft folks go to when they leave the mothership. I ran a search of people with the key word "Microsoft" on their profile and listing Microsoft as a past employer. Then I used the filters to identify the top companies people currently work at. This doesn't account for interim moves (because it's only pulling their current employer), but I think it gives some good insight into places where Microsoft alumni might find a happy career home.

My search yielded 209,337 profile matches. I should make clear that LinkedIn does not require any kind of employer authentication. So someone saying they are a former Microsoft employee could be a former contractor, a past employee or completely full of it. So assume that numbers aren't exact but more of an indicator of likely career paths. The search also delivered profile matches of people who list Microsoft as their current employer and it's unclear whether they left and came back or whether they entered consecutive roles at Microsoft as separate positions. All that aside, of the 209K results...


Google - 2652
Amazon - 2281
Oracle - 1154
IBM - 1092
HP - 1090
Cisco - 815
Facebook - 786
Apple - 757
SAP - 660
Dell - 649
Expedia - 577
Accenture - 540
EMC - 520
Intel - 515

That's quite a list of companies that might have an interest in your skills! I then changed the search to filter down to only the profiles of folks in the Seattle area so those people who were impacted in the Redmond-area can see the best local employers for their skills. This is what I got:

Amazon - 1730
Gogle - 500
Expedia - 491
T-Mobile - 416
Boeing - 310
AT&T - 302
UW - 285
Starbucks - 206
Tableau Software - 196 (What? Interesting!)
Facebook - 187
AWS - 167 (that would bring the Amazon total to over 2300...not sure why AWS is listed separately)
Avanade - 149
Nordstrom - 143
F5 Networks - 128

I've got recruiters at most of these companies in my network, so I'll repeat my offer to help you get your resume out to some of these folks. I have already reached out to several of them and will continue to engage more.

I hope this information inspires you to consider some of these companies. Where other smart Microsofties go, there might also be a place for you.

Have a great weekend!