Many people ask me this question, so I decided to write the important information to know and share my personal experience to help.
I joined the MVP program 16 years ago, and it has been a long period of my life where I have had the opportunity to live amazing and interesting experiences.
The first main question is, what does the Microsoft MVP Program bring to the person?
The first and most important thing is visibility across the IT community, you will have the opportunity to engage with many new people around the world, the internal product groups in Microsoft, and with many people in the community, you will interact with all the other MVPs in the family.
Your point of vision about technology and ethical collaboration will drastically change during this time, you will feel part of something very important, and you will become a point of reference for your technical area.
Your professional life will change because the MVP activities will become part of that, companies have very high respect for Microsoft MVPs, and you will be happy to push your boundaries to provide the highest standard and knowledge to people.
What is the Microsoft MVP Award?
As the question quotes, the MVP is an award and not a certification, and this is why it is recognised as the top recognition in the Microsoft world. To become an MVP, you need to follow a process, and you can find all the information you need here.
The MVP website contains everything you need to understand what it takes and requires, but I would like to provide some useful personal important advices, starting with the most crucial.
Choose what you are passionate about.
In the MVP program, there are so many areas you can join, from Linux to Windows, from Data to Development; here, you can see all the areas.
Choose the one you are passionate about and where you are working on.
It is so crucial you choose in this way. I have seen many people picking up an area because “cool” or because more profitable than another, and leaving the program after one year.
The MVP program is passion, and people feel that passion, they breathe your passion, and this is where you become an influencer, pushing your passion about something, speaking about it, writing about it and helping people.
The passion for sharing what you love to do with the many, it is also what will push you to keep going in the program with joy and without any real sacrifice.
Share as much as you can.
When you choose the area, start looking and searching about communities and user groups in your region area. There are many places you can look. The first place you can check is the MVP website. Look for an MVP in your area here, and look for him on the internet, like LinkedIn, and contact them. They will provide you the best community or user group to join.
Another great point is The MVP Award Team, and they are amazing people, super open and available for any question, don’t be shy!
When you find the community or user group, start sharing your passion and knowledge with them, and offer your availability to help the group. There are so many things you can do, activities for charity, writing articles, speaking at internal events, and many more.
Don’t keep the expertise and experience you have for yourself. Share as much as you can, because this is what an MVP is.
You can also check Facebook here, it is a great group organising call for speakers, join the group and start interacting.
Meetup is also a great platform, search for groups in your area, and you will be surprised how many you will find.
Maybe you don’t feel comfortable facing people in public speaking, and this is not a problem at all. You can do a lot of activities, like joining https://stackoverflow.com/ and helping people. Or you would like to join the GitHub groups and create some amazing tools, or the Microsoft technical teams and help them with the products and documentation.
Last but not least crucial advice, don’t stay alone.
This is super crucial, don’t be shy and don’t stay alone! Interact with people as much as you can.
Find an MVP and follow the guidelines, and work with others.
When you are ready, and you will know when, the MVP who knows you will propose you to the MVP Award Team.
“Any single thing you do has an effect, and this is the Butterfly Effect.”
I hope this can help, and we need you, so don’t be shy and start your journey!
