This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Benjamin Phillips, 26, who is based in Seattle. He is a business program manager for Minecraft at Microsoft. Business Insider has verified his job applications and employment; Microsoft declined to comment for this story. This piece has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was about 9 years old, my dad got us our first Xbox, and it changed our world. I’m the oldest of three boys, and when we weren’t playing sports outside, we were always playing Call of Duty or Halo together.
Xbox was my introduction to both gaming and Microsoft. As I went through school, I kept using the company’s products, like Word, PowerPoint, and the rest of the Office suite.
It became my dream to work at Microsoft, and once I realized they had business-facing roles in gaming, those became my dream jobs.
I set up an email alert for non-technical jobs at Microsoft
Halfway through my junior year at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, I went to play professional basketball and volleyball in the Philippines, where I stayed until 2024, while also completing my undergraduate studies and an MBA.
From January 2024, I was back in the US, networking and applying for jobs, focused on getting a role at Microsoft. The first job I applied for at the company was a business marketing role. I was unsuccessful.
I set up an alert system so that whenever a non-technical role opened up, I received a weekly email notification.
Courtesy of Benjamin Phillips
Facing rejection after rejection, I tried to work out what was wrong with my résumé. I kept changing it and even hired a résumé service to help. I followed the advice of making it more action-oriented and metrics-focused.
I knew the reality of the situation: I was competing against thousands of other applicants for each Microsoft role.
I had to do things differently.
Building relationships was vital
I started cold-networking on LinkedIn. I subscribed to LinkedIn Premium and messaged anyone I could find at Microsoft. I had two university connections who worked there in junior roles and gave referrals, but I was still rejected.
In late 2024, I connected on LinkedIn with a former executive on Microsoft’s Minecraft team. She told me she rarely received messages asking about her journey. We hit it off, and she gave me a heads-up on a role on the Minecraft team.
While I was waiting to hear back from the applications, I completed every LinkedIn Microsoft certification I could find.
By early 2025, I had more than 50 rejections, but as I knew from playing basketball, you only need one shot to go in.
After 15 months of silence and rejection, I got two Microsoft offers at the same time, both in April 2025. One was working on the Microsoft Surface Pro, and the other was with Xbox, working on Minecraft — the role my LinkedIn connection had alerted me to
I feel like I’m where I’m meant to be
When I got the Minecraft offer, it was my birthday weekend. I broke down, cried, and praised God.
To celebrate, my family and I went to see the Minecraft movie. Watching it, I thought, “This feels crazy. This is my company now.”
When I sit in the Minecraft office, it feels like I’m my 9-year-old self again, but now I’m creating games for the next wave of kids. It feels like I’m where I’m meant to be at the right time.
