Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-12-31
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

Microsoft - A declining company
Pros: Fair to good pay, stable company, good benefits, especially if you have a family.  Working at Microsoft affords you a middle to upper middle class lifestyle in a beautiful part of the country (Microsoft is based in the Pacific Northwest).
Cons: Corporate is quite political and based on a stack ranking where those who do not know you or your work are giving your compensation and reviews.  This means that you're spending quite a bit time building and managing your "self brand" and managing those around you and especially above you.  Those that can play politics well will do well, however it does not mean that the best ideas make its way to the top.  It my belief that the main reason is that the company has a significant amount of bloat with layers upon layers of people who are trying to justify their role.  This was not always the case - certainly not the case when I joined nearly 14 years ago (I was there for 11 years and left three years ago).