li was taken on the microsoft payroll in june and to her surprise she received a much higher salary than the 1,500 yuan she had been paid during the internship.

　　hu jungao, li`s manager, told the website there are 40,000 students majoring in software studies in china, and 30,000 of them are taking microsoft curricula and only three of them will be hired by the world software giant this year.

　　according to hu, many of li`s competitors are students from the country`s top universities such as tsinghua and zhejiang. li thinks highly of microsoft`s hiring policies that don`t rely solely on diplomas and professional skills.

　　"we only have six-month contracts. an employee will have to leave after that if he or she doesn`t meet the company`s standard," li said. she said she is determined to work even harder.

　　at 7 o`clock on july 27, after most of her colleagues had left, li was still in the office, making a summary of the day`s work and drawing plans for the next day.

　　"the company provides a fairly easy and free work environment, but everybody works hard," li said. "they have apartments and cars and everything. what does a man work for if he doesn`t need more money?" maybe the answer lies in microsoft`s corporate culture.

　　"my life at microsoft has just begun. there is a long way to go," she said.