Man Collects 50 Microsoft Rejections Like They're Pokémon Cards, Finally Trades for Minecraft Job
KEY POINTS
- •Benjamin Phillips played professional basketball and volleyball in the Philippines before returning to the US in January 2024.
- •He applied for 50+ non-technical roles at Microsoft via LinkedIn, improving his resume and leveraging referrals over 15 months.
- •In April 2025, Phillips received two job offers simultaneously from Microsoft—one with Surface Pro, the other with the Minecraft team.
Benjamin Phillips, a 26-year-old former pro basketball and volleyball hopeful who played ball in the Philippines while juggling an MBA, dreamed of a Microsoft gaming gig since his Xbox-addicted 9-year-old days. After setting up a LinkedIn alert for every non-tech Microsoft job opening and enduring 50+ soul-crushing rejections over 15 months, he hired a resume whisperer and spammed LinkedIn Premium like a true networking beast. Finally, in April 2025, he scored a birthday miracle: two offers—one for Microsoft Surface Pro, one in Xbox’s Minecraft team, confirmed by a rare executive LinkedIn hookup. We’re almost rooting for the guy, except Microsoft declined to comment, so their silence says it all.
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(1 of 3)50 rejections, a LinkedIn Premium subscription, and a resume makeover later, dude finally lands his dream Minecraft job. Microsoft: the ultimate reject simulator.
If rejection emails at Microsoft were gaming loot crates, Benjamin would be the richest noob in town.
Pro athlete turned Microsoft dreamer: because apparently dunking basketballs doesn’t count as a skill on LinkedIn.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 4/18/2026 | Author: Joshua Nelken-Zitser
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