When most people think of an evangelical experience, Microsoft isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. Having grown up in the South, seeing a tent revival for Microsoft developers brings to mind some odd visions, but Microsoft is looking for just that. They posted a job listing on their site for a “Developer Evangelist” and it looks like it would be a decent gig for someone willing to trek out to Redmond.
I’d like to shout out to Sister B.L Ochman and her “What’s Next Blog” for the word on this spiritual tale. She keeps a delightful chronicle on such things.
The position really requires two skill sets. First is someone who knows who his or her way around the communications industry. They can handle video production, writing and verbal skills. This could mean handling a video editor (I wonder if they use Final Cut Pro) and blogging the next day. Folks need to know their way around the video production process pretty well.
The other skill set is the developer side. One needs to be familiar with many things Microsoft and primarily the software development side. They emphasize an “active passion for connecting with customers and sharing your passion for Microsoft products.”
Here’s the official posting:
The Developer and Platform Evangelism Team is hiring an online technical evangelist to join the Channel 9 team. Channel 9 was created last year as an experimental way to build a two way interaction between developers and Microsoft and uses video as its primary communication tool. In the past year the site has grown in both traffic and content and is now viewed by over one million unique visitors a month. As a result we are looking for another unique individual who has the passion, the knowledge, and the skills to help us tell the Microsoft story online using video.
We are looking for a rare bird for a new kind of evangelism role at Microsoft. The ideal candidate will be well versed in the current wave of Microsoft developer technologies, industry trends, and competition. Experience in software development is preferred but not required. Strong digital video filming, editing, and compression skills are required as the team shoots, edits, and produces its own video on site. You would be a member of a small team responsible for the care and feeding of this unique community. An active passion for connecting with customers and sharing your passion for Microsoft products is required. Strong written, verbal and visual communication skills are required. Roles and responsibilities change quickly so flexibility and fast decision making abilities are a must.
Experience with blogging, wikis, and social software technologies a plus.
The job certainly requires zeal and they do mention in the end, knowledge of social networks, blogging and wikis is a plus. For some reason, they didn’t talk about writing sermons. But then again, they may only speak in that rarest of spiritual languages, binary, at the Church of Brother Bill.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
