Company: Microsoft
Date: 2010-07-19
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former

MBA Internship at Microsoft
Pros: 1. People
The people at MS are amazing in how much they are willing to help out with anything and everything. They are very smart and very passionate about what they do. It is fun to meet them and work with them. The Kellogg alumni at MS are especially helpful and nice.

2. Networking/Company Culture
The company encourages a lot of networking and exchange of information. It allows you to meet people from other groups and learn about their projects. It is nice to know that the work you're doing does not stay in a vacuum and that you are able to leverage other people's knowledge and best practices, so that you're not spinning your wheels.

3. Opportunities
It is encouraged to rotate and spend 16 - 18 months with different groups and doing different things, so it gives everyone a great opportunity to network within the company and try different things.
Cons: 1. Team Culture
My team had an intense culture, due to all being ex-consultants and due to working on the strategy of the flagship product. It was a different culture than I expected and was therefore disappointed. However, I did enjoy working and collaborating with them. It was more of a personality and style issue. So my advice would be to interview the team as they are interviewing you during the second round.

2. Size of the Company
The company felt really big and it felt like it could swallow someone who was not doing the "right" things (e.g. networking constantly, changing jobs every 18 months, working intensely on side projects, etc.). I felt like it added an extra step on the responsibilities that came with the job.

3. Seattle
Seattle was a fun city to be over the summer. However, I could not see myself living there over the long term. It felt too small and much less urban than I had imagined.