Intern to Microsoft Distinguished Engineer in 11 Promotions (Career Story)
Intern to Microsoft Distinguished Engineer in 11 Promotions (Career Story)  
Podcast: The Peterman Pod
Published On: Fri Sep 05 2025
Description: David Fowler went from an intern to a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft. That’s 11 different promotions all at the same company. I asked him about everything he learned by going through that process.𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/intern-to-microsoft-distinguished• YouTube: https://youtu.be/d8tRM8RJ52M• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:(00:00) Intro(00:53) Microsofts leveling system(03:17) Joining Microsoft(10:18) First successful project(16:22) Bootstrapping his own project(25:44) His principal promotion(37:10) His distinguished promotion(49:51) Engineers he looks up to(53:40) Expanding on his top tweets(1:05:20) Big company tip on reorgs(1:08:25) What keeps him at Microsoft(1:17:22) Microsoft culture after Satya(1:23:04) Career regrets and work life balance(1:29:51) Advice for his younger self𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfowl/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/davidfowl𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman