Company: Microsoft
Date: 2008-06-11
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current

A great place to work, if you can self direct
Pros: Benefits! Health insurance alone is a great benefit, and I love the other perks like the gym, group legal, towels in the locker rooms, and free soft drinks.  If you have a good manager that respects time off, I've found the vacation policy to be fairly generous.  I even used short term leave when needed, without any negative repercussions.   

People are dedicated, smart, and driven.   They are often times trying to do the right thing both for the business and the customer.
Cons: Expectations of working long hours, arrogant management/people, lack of part time work available.  There seems to be less latitude to move around - managers are looking for "discipline experts" vs smart people who can pick things up quickly and run with a project.   

If you live in Seattle and have to commute to Redmond.... Horrible commute unless you can figure out a schedule that lets you go in early, leave late, or leverage public transportation to it's utmost advantages.