A day of Oracle and Microsoft

Author: Delia Vervaeke

Language: English

Early morning to Oracle

We all dragged ourselves out of bed early to grab some breakfast before heading to Oracle. Around 9 am, we met up in the hotel lobby, gearing up for a long trek to the Oracle office.

I didn't mind the walk, but what totally caught me off guard was the rain. We ended up walking through the rain for a good 45 minutes until we finally made it to Oracle.

Once inside, we had to sign some paperwork and grab our own name tags. Then, we were guided into a meeting room where they provided us with coffee, water, and even some fruit. After that, Ellen gathered us and gave us the introduction in the auditorium. Gotta hand it to her, she was a pretty awesome host.

Neesh, a software engineer rocking it at Oracle for four years now, spilled the beans on what it's really like behind the scenes. According to him, there are three different types of days: the ones where you're twiddling your thumbs, the ones where you're drowning in tasks and working overtime, and then there's the blissful Fridays with zero work on the agenda. Neesh didn't hold back when talking about his experience joining Oracle. He opened up about the challenges he encountered and generously shared tips for those navigating the job hunt process.

After our chat with Neesh, we returned to the meeting room for a group brainstorming session. This time, the challenge was to devise a plan for the jet engine industry. As ideas flew around the room, one intriguing addition caught everyone's attention: a small figurine equipped with an NFT tag. This unique touch allowed us to connect directly with its creator, adding a modern twist to our collaborative experience.

Lunch @ Microsoft 🍕

Our visit to Oracle ran longer than anticipated, but once we hopped on the tram and took a short walk, we found ourselves at the doorstep of Microsoft's building. Following protocol, we signed in and received our name cards before heading inside. The sheer size of Microsoft's premises was impressive, having several restaurants to choose from. Opting for a classic choice, I choose pizza. Prepared in a stone oven, it exceeded expectations and satisfied my appetite.

As some of our group finished their meals, they went on a guided tour of the building while I enjoyed my pizza. We split into two groups for the tour.

Afternoon at Microsoft

After we wrapped up our meal, we headed to the meeting room for the building tour. Our guide shared some cool stuff about the digital waterfall, which I thought was awesome. We then went up to the rooftop for some stunning panorama shots. But when it was time to head back down, someone accidentally locked the door, leaving us stuck outside. Luckily, one of our teachers managed to call someone to come and let us back in.

After the tour, we had three talks from Microsoft employees about their products. Oliver Mertens talked about Microsoft and AI, Gary Keegan covered Microsoft Data Strategy, and Liana-Anca Tomescu discussed Microsoft Defender for Cloud. I especially enjoyed the last talk because it was all about cybersecurity.

To wrap things up, we gathered in the building's center for a group photo before hopping on the tram back to our hotel.

Our evening

In our evening we went exploring Dublin, visited Temple bar and took a couple of pictures. We had dinner at a local restaurant which had a live singer and a great atmosphere. After dinner, we saw it was getting late so we went back to the hotel to get some rest for the next day.