Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-10-14
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

Microsoft culture not for me
Pros: Good benefits (although that is changing)
Cons: In my last 2 1/2 years at MS, I had 5 different managers.  For me, I just wasn't good enough at playing the politics and promoting myself well to do well at the calibrations, and while I was never an underperformer, I was a consistent 3 rating and it was clear that no matter how hard I worked I wasn't going to do better than that.  After I began to get pressured because I had been in my current level too long, I realized that the Microsoft program just wasn't for me.  I left and am now doing consulting work, where I get paid for overtime and can choose projects and employers that interest me, and do the type of work I enjoy without having to get bogged down in politics or review process.  I'm glad to put MS on my resume as the experience was valuable, but the culture there is a better fit for someone who is ambitious and wants to move up the corporate ladder.