Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-05-04
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

the good and the bad
Pros: Excellent Benefits
When you get a good manager, the opportunities are vast and you can make an impact.
They understand when you need time off.
The shuttle system is excellent
The connector system is AWESOME!
They can take and even welcome criticism (to an limit I think)
The level of intelligence at MSFT is 2nd to no one.
The people are generally warm to work with.
When they focus on something, they really dig in and get it done properly.
Cons: The amount of re-organizations (re-orgs) stifles productivity, promotes confusion and continually leads to bad middle management.
If you do NOT get a good manager in your next re-org, good luck. It can be a death sentence.
You really have to work 12+ hours a day to be able to be seen as promotable. (though they will not agree with that statement).
The awards system is really nothing more than a round robin method of handing next level promotions.
With the intelligence comes the arrogance level, 2nd to no one (maybe).
The inability of middle and senior management to allow for true innovation at the ground level. If you're not working on the team or technology you are best at, you're essentially losing your skill set day by day.