Getting to know datacenter employees: Yu Gao
Microsoft’s success depends on our people. We are proud to introduce some of the talented folks in your community who work in our global datacenters. Discover what inspired them to seek a career in the tech industry, the different pathways they pursued, and what a day in the life of a datacenter employee looks like.
Introducing Yu Gao
Datacenter Inventory & Asset Technician
Zhangjiakou, China
Employee since 2020
Early days
Yu grew up in Inner Mongolia in China. Her hometown inspired her and shaped her personality with its simple customs and comfortable environment, and her mother was an inspiration to her as well. During her school days, Yu enjoyed many sports activities, and running was one of her favorites. She also expanded her interests to include cooking and learning English.
The path to technology
After graduating from university with a degree in tourism, Yu began her career as a service technician at IBM for nearly two years. Her work on c operation services experience for IT services running on a larger server made her determined to be dedicated to the technology industry. When her department was suddenly dismissed, Yu was able to use her accumulated knowledge of technology and her willingness to grow to successfully apply for the role of Datacenter Inventory & Asset Technician (DIAT) at ZQZ sites in China. This new role provided her with the opportunity to learn about the hardware, parts, and items utilized in datacenters—as well as what a datacenter is. After working as a DIAT for three years, she has gained more comprehensive knowledge of datacenters, and her career goals are now clearer.
Superpowers
Yu has the superpower of adaptivity. Since graduating from university, she has worked and lived in different cities in China, all of which are far away from her hometown. Besides location changes, she has experienced different working roles like service engineer and DIAT. Although both roles seem similar, the essential content of the roles is very different as she changed from service to logistics area. She was able to adapt quickly and thrive in both roles.
A day in the life
Yu starts her day with a sync meeting with her teammates. She checks what needs to be done and prioritizes it on a list, which is different depending on the activities of the day. For instance, if she receives a product requirements document, she not only syncs with her teammates but also coordinates with suppliers and other partners. She performs cycle counts and data shredding or other high severity tasks as needed. Before getting off work, she sets aside some time to check any outstanding work left behind, as well as the quantity of completed work to ensure no human errors.
Favorite childhood food
It’s hard to resist hotpot in China, and Yu is no exception. She loves spicy hotpot because it’s a diverse way of having the vegetables and meat she wants. No matter what variable vegetables you like, just put them in the pot. Yu loves the taste of the juicy, spicy, and fresh textures of the ingredients from everything in the pot.
.
.
.
