Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-11-30
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

Microsoft's Dynamics division is not the same experience as the rest of Microsoft
Pros: Unparalleled Healthcare - everything is free (no premiums, no deductibles, no copays) however employees may start contributing to their health premium costs due to Obamacare in 2013 or 2014.

Very sharp people work there. The general attitude of my former colleagues is to think proactively to new trends and  technologies and not be a follower. I have worked for competitors who always consider what Microsoft is doing with regards to adopting something new

When you work for Microsoft the respect you feel in a room among others in the technology industry is a nice perk
Cons: The Dynamics division of Microsoft which represents the 2000 acquisition of Great Plains and 2002 acquisition of Navision has yet to completely feel like what I understand the experience to be in other divisions of Microsoft. The biggest thing I noticed is the leadership. There are many that are not the caliber of professional you would expect from a VP or GM of Microsoft.

The strategy of the Dynamics division is like dealing with an ADHD child. High-level strategy can change as soon as every six months and mid-level strategy can change as often as every quarter. 

I have worked at Microsoft twice. The first time was as an employee of one of the above-mentioned acquisitions they made. It was one of the worst experiences of my professional career mainly due to the fact that Microsoft executive management allowed only one of the two ERP companies they acquired to manage the entire division and did not police them at all. My supposedly strategic team of 18 was laid off a few years later.

About 5 years later I found myself back at Microsoft Dynamics division with information that the internal product fighting was gone, so I thought it would be safe. Unfortunately the top management of my particular group was horrible and after two years I decided to leave again. I recently heard that HR finally acted on three years of negative feedback on these managers from their employees and removed them from power, but it was too late for me and many others.

The worst thing that applies to all of Microsoft is their annual review methodology. Each team manager is required to pick a percentage of their team for a high score, a percentage for a medium score and another percentage for a low score. Even if a manager had a team of superstars they would be forced to grade this way. It creates a lot of back stabbing and politics.

One last irritating thing is the blind loyalty they expect everyone to have toward their products. I understand the importance of supporting your employer by purchasing their products, but what if they produce inferior products? When the iPod first came out it was an unspoken taboo to own an iPod and not a Zune or some other MP3 player. Later when Microsoft got into the cell phone business they became very anti iPhone and Android. If they caught you with one you would no longer get your monthly $100 phone allowance even though Microsoft has absolutely sucked in this market.  

Overall Microsoft is not the worst place to work and is probably great for some people (it certainly looks impressive on a resume), but I will not return there.