Company: Microsoft
Date: 2015-09-25
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

The Retail Side
Pros: It's great here, when you have a dedicated team and management. I've learned that MSFT is very thorough in qualifications and has a lot of red tape-- but for good reason.

1. You're as worthy of moving up as you are dedicated. 
2. You aren't going to be spoon fed opportunities to grow-- seek and you shall find.
3. Room to network and make your name out there.
4. The company actually listens to what Retail is saying and they grow with their employees.
5. They have, honestly, the /best/ coaching and constructive criticism training. I used to be an ASM at another retail company and I was honestly moved by how graceful managers are when it comes to attending to a problem and setting you up for success.
6. The pay is substantially more than other companies-- but be forewarned, with greater pay it comes with greater responsibility.
Cons: 1. Everyone is working hard to better themselves, which means whether you work as a team or not, your impact is heavily weighed. You are constantly being evaluated and expected to grow as an employee-- and sometimes when you're hired from the outside and not thoroughly trained like in-sourced hires, you can feel like you're at a disadvantage or expected to know things that you haven't been trained for. This is not a job for those who are entry-level to the retail industry or the workforce in general. 
2. Work/Life balance constraints: MSFT goes out of its way to make sure everyone is being worked at the  minimum standard of 20 hours p. week (part-timers) which means that if you're going to school full time, working another job, or just have personal obligations, you need to be prepared to: A) Get two days off a week that will not be consecutive and B) Know your personal life 3 weeks in advance so you can request time off. For school this is especially difficult, because there are always opportunities outside of the classroom for E.C or even graded requirements. They can only be so lenient, and this is always going to be determined by 1) how good you are as an employee and 2) everyone else's availability.