Microsoft Ireland is Hiring

Meadow, originally uploaded by pvborza.

Microsoft's International Recruitment Program Manager, Holly Peterson, is currently looking for a couple of graduates interested in working for Microsoft as full time employees in Dublin, Ireland. Open positions include:

• Software Development Engineer
• Software Development Engineer in Test
• Program Manager
• International Project Engineer
• Audio Engineer

If you’re interested, please send your resume to gradjobs@microsoft.com; for more information, please see the attached document.

Microsoft Denmark is Hiring

Sprinkler, originally uploaded by pvborza.

I got an email from Bogdana Botez telling me that Microsoft Denmark is coming to Bucharest on the 23rd and 24th of April to interview the finest and brightest Romanian students. The selected students will have the opportunity to do a paid internship for a period of up to 12 months at the Microsoft Development Center Copenhagen, rated as the Best Place to Work in Europe in 2008 and 2009 by the Great Place to Work Institute.

They are looking for candidates that meet these requirements:

• Software development expertise, particularly within C#, C++ or similar object oriented programming languages.
• Strong technical and analytical skills.
• Excellent problem solving and design skills.
• Ability to work both independently and in teams.
• An excellent command of written and spoken English.

From my understanding, the development center located in Copenhagen creates Microsoft Dynamics, so experience in business applications or ERP solutions is a plus.

To apply for a SDET internship position, you have to send your resume to bogdana.botez@microsoft.com. For more information, please read their official document.

Filing Internship Tax Returns with IRS

Duck, originally uploaded by pvborza.

If you did an internship in United States and you were an alien (yeah...), you can ask some of the tax money back. I won't disclose the amount I got back from IRS as it depends on what you've done while you were there.

What you need to do:

1. Wait till you receive the W-2 copies from your U.S.-based employer (Microsoft in my case). They are required to send these forms to you by the end of January, the following year. For example, if you did the internship in the summer of 2009, Microsoft will mail you those copies by the end of January 2010.
2. Download and complete the 1040NR-EZ form and the associated 1040NR-EZ instructions for 2009 (yes, even if we're in 2010 you're filing tax returns for the year of 2009). The 1040NR-EZ is for U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents so be sure to carefully determine if you are that certain nonresident alien in the provided instructions (you probably are).
3. Read the income tax treaty between your country and U.S. to determine the maximum amount you'll get back. The Income Tax Treaty between Romania and U.S. was signed in 1973 by both countries and states that students and trainees (paragraph 20) are exempt from tax if they earn less than $2000 (you usually earn much more in an internship).
4. In addition to the 1040NR-EZ form you've just completed, you also have to send the W-2 Federal Filing Copy that you've received from your employer.
5. Send these two documents to IRS' address in United States: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, Texas 73301-0215 by April 15, 2010.

I've send the 1040NR-EZ and the W-2 by DHL and even though it's quite expensive ($100 for an envelope) you can track it online and you can rest assure that it gets there in three days.
When you complete the form you can either choose between a check that will be mailed to your current address or a U.S. bank account. I went with the U.S. bank account and received the money four weeks after IRS got the documents.

Jocul Iluminatus

Captură de ecran de pe Jocul Iluminatus, originally uploaded by pvborza.

Iluminatus este jocul de cultură generală în care vă transformați cunoștințele în bani.

Jocul Iluminatus se vrea a fi un joc de cultură generală gen trivia unde te întreci cu prietenii tăi la întrebări cu selecție unică sau răspuns numeric. În plus, poți să-ți încarci contul folosind orice card bancar și să participi în jocurile cu miză. Iluminatus organizează în fiecare zi la ora 20:00 un joc cu taxa de participare de trei lei (3 lei). Dacă în acest joc intră 30 de oameni atunci potul zilnic e de 30 * 3 lei = 90 lei.

Începe acum să te antrenezi pe www.iluminatus.ro!

Am ales să scriu despre Jocul Iluminatus pentru că am ajutat la crearea acestuia împreună cu Daniel Ghiță, Mihai Nadăș și Ovidiu Sabou. Platforma creată de noi, AnswerJoy, a fost licențiată firmei Iluminatus s.r.l. pentru România și astfel a luat naștere www.iluminatus.ro.

Microsoft Serbia is Hiring

Moon, originally uploaded by pvborza.

I have recently received a newsletter from Microsoft Development Center Serbia, saying that they're expanding. They've got up to 17 open positions:

1. Software Design Engineer and Software Design Engineer in Test (up to 12 positions) in the SQL Server Group, Entertainment and Devices Division, or Educational Product Group.
2. Intern Software Design Engineer (5 positions) for the summer of 2010.

To apply for any of the above positions, you have to send your resume to mdcsjobs@microsoft.com.