[nsfyn55]

Is it really the trendiness?

Here is what would be going through my mind...

> Why after investing 11 years in Mike did Microsoft decide to let Mike go?

People are tremendously expensive to a business. Losing 11 years of IP is a nightmare scenario. This would be a clear red flag for me as a hiring manager.

My second question would be...

> Does Mike's resume look like he's kept up on what's current? If not could that be why Microsoft let Mike go?

The only question I am asking when I hire someone is. Where can I put them on day one. If I can't see where a person fits in then I'm not going to hire them. The worst thing you can tell me in an interview is "I'm willing to learn". Great so is everyone else. What I want to hear is "This is the state of the market, this is what I know now, these are the things I should know, this is how I plan to know them" and "what do I need to know to meet your needs on day one"

>Mike has worked on systems that can handle multiple orders of magnitude more load, but his experience is, apparently, irrelevant.

No one really cares. I don't care if Mike was on the nasa team that sent men to the moon. Tremendous achievement, useless to me right now. I care about what he can do right now. Does Mike have the answer to the QPS problem right now? If he can why isn't he there right now pitching them the solution.

There is no earned comfort anymore. You don't stick with the company long enough to get the good parking spot. No one cares what you did yesterday they only care about what you can do today? If Mike is on board with these values and is keeping pace with the skill demands of the market then I don't think he'll have any problem finding a job at TrendCo or anywhere else. If Mike thinks he's owed something for the time he put in at Microsoft then I suspect he's in for a rough go.