Company: Microsoft
Date: 2008-10-10
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current

great company but limited career advancement opportunities
Pros: The name of Microsoft on your CV is great to have. There is a supportive collegiate atmoshere where the employees help out each other without the dog-eat-dog atmoshere of other companies. There is a fantastic work-life balance where time off is not just permitted but promoted. They value employees and their families.
The benefits package is flexible and is very reasonable - perhaps the best I have had in my career to date. The tools you get to do your job are cool. They are very focused on being "green".
Cons: Microsoft do not pay very well. It is a product-focused sales organisation (if you are in the Sales, Marketing and Services Group) when it should be embracing "Solution" selling and a consultative approach to its customers.
It is now focused on short-term revenue targets and drive short-term behaviour. The upper management team is OK but somewhat ineffective; the middle-managers tend to micro-manage their team based on weekly revenue reporting.
It is anticipated that you self-serve when it comes to knowledge about products etc. Email overload and too many meetings (but this is common in large comanies).