I am a software development student and I was invited to learn about a few apprenticeship opportunities with Microsoft. I attended a meeting, and in less than 20 minutes they had spewed bullshit up to their ears, so I just left.

They string you along to get you in the meeting then say “[Microsoft] won’t consider hiring anyone without at least 6mo experience post-graduation”. Then why the fuck are they advertising this program to current students? The reason came out a few moments later: they recommend getting another job until you’ve met the 6mo requirement.

They want you to fuck another company into training you for the least productive 6mos of your career, so they can poach you with the false promise of working for a tech giant. It’s a false promise because even IF you are accepted into their apprenticeship program you are not an employee, you are a temporary independent contractor. You won’t be able to put “Microsoft” on your resume only the 3rd party firm they set you up to contract through.

To add insult to injury they explicitly state that you can not be enrolled in any classes or programs, and can’t have another job or volunteer work for the duration of the apprenticeship. They don’t want you to have any other options or security, they want you to go all-in with 100% commitment to them while they commit as little as possible to you.

Basically, they want you to screw over another company, then take a huge personal risk so that in the end you MIGHT have the privilege of slaving away indefinitely for them. Oh, but if you’re hired it’s because you’re the “best of the best”. What a crock of shit.

I’m only really disappointed in myself, I should know better than to expect ethical behavior from a mega corporation. I shouldn’t have attended that meeting in the first place, but they fooled me and successfully wasted my time.