A Guide to Becoming a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador
“Finding your community is more important than ever as classes and social activities take place virtually. Amplify your impact and bring together your peers to learn new skills, solve real-world problems, and build communities across the globe.”
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program (formerly known as Microsoft Student Partner Program)is a worldwide educational program that aims to build communities and create new opportunities for students. It does so by offering training in skills usually not taught in traditional classrooms, providing unique resources like (Microsoft Teams account, Microsoft Office, Azure credits, Linkedin learning etc) and facilitating personal growth by establishing a collaborative teaching experience for the students.
About the program
- It intends to sponsor undergraduate and postgraduate students majoring in disciplines related to Computer Science and Technology and increase their employability.
- It aims to increase awareness about Microsoft technologies, products, programs and initiatives.
Benefits of being a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador
- Office 365 Subscription: Best-in-class apps like Excel and Outlook; powerful cloud services like OneDrive and Microsoft Teams are offered free of cost.
- TechSmith offer for SnagIt and Camtasia: Snagit software for screen capturing with built-in advanced image editing, and Camtasia software for video editing to create polished, professional-looking videos. These are worth around 30,000 INR.
- Visual Studio subscription: Comprehensive tools and services to design, build and deploy complex enterprise applications.
- Microsoft Product Keys: Free Microsoft Professional Keys for Office, Windows, Visio, etc. (all variants).
- Azure $150 monthly credits: Ambassadors receives $150 in monthly Azure credits to experiment with and learn about Azure services. With these credits they can develop apps in their favorite language with Web Apps, build their very own bots with Bot Service, and learn to manage data effectively with HDInsight — just to name a few.
- Free Training: Free training via Microsoft Learn and directly from Microsoft professionals.
- LinkedIn Premium Account: Free LinkedIn Learning and Premium account for the entire 6 months.
- Connect with other students who share your passion in focused Leagues and use tech to solve real-world challenges together.
- Host digital events, offer guidance to other students, and earn recognition that separates your résumé from the pack.
Application
Step 1:
Visit the site https://studentambassadors.microsoft.com/login and sign in with your Microsoft account.
Step 2:
Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button.
Step 3:
In the ‘Privacy and Terms’ section, agree to the Privacy Statement and click ‘Next’ in order to proceed with your application.
Step 4:
Six sections will be displayed as follows:
- Privacy and Terms
- Personal Info
- School Info
- Written Sample
- Additional Info
- Technical Skills
In the ‘Personal Info’ section, fill in the personal details and get it verified by means of a one-time password.
Click ‘Next’ to proceed.
Step 5:
Similarly, fill in the School info.
Step 6:
Now, coming to the most important step. The ‘Written sample’ section is where you need to demonstrate your skills!
It contains 3 parts -
- Inspire- What excites you about technology and why you want to help other students explore and learn?
In this field, you must express your enthusiasm regarding technology and your desire to help and educate other students. It is great to cite any previous example from your experience with helping the student community.
- Teach- How would you take a technical concept and teach it to a friend or peer that has never heard of it?
In this field, you need to explain how you would teach technical concepts to your peers. Bonus points if accompanied along with an example. ( For instance, I mentioned an analogy between traffic on highway caused by cars and website traffic caused by users as a way to explain ‘website traffic’ to someone who’s completely new to technology).
- Promote- If you were hosting an event at your school, how would you get students to attend?
There are plenty of ways to promote your event. One of the most efficient methods is to raise awareness through organizations in your University and your social media channels
Step 7:
Fill in your Additional Info (Try to fill as many fields as possible.)
Step 8:
Finally, coming to the last step! Select ‘Technical skills’ that most interest you.
Voila! You’re now ready to click on the ‘Submit’ button!
New students are accepted into the program quarterly and the results are also announced on quarterly basis.
Conclusion
Make sure you express your enthusiasm and willingness to be a part of the program, and most importantly remain authentic with your answers! Thank you for you patient reading and I hope to have added helped you.
All the best!