Company: Microsoft
Date: 2008-11-21
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current

Center of the Digital Universe
Pros: Technology is Microsoft's life blood - as a technologist it is like visiting techno Mecca.  The internal dialog and conversations are often intense and electrifying.  What better place can you be than right next to the team that wrote the code you'll base your products upon.  One of the most appealing aspects is the opportunity to steer and impact 100's millions of people's lives touched by MS products.

About the workplace - every team member is given 24x7 access to Microsoft offices, networks and other resources through laptops, cellphones, home machines etc. wherever they are in the world.  We've been living the road-warrior lifestyle for over 10 years.  All campuses are WiFi enabled - with very diverse range of working environments from offices through open plan to lounges and "coffee shops" - whatever suits yours and your team's working style.

The cash+bonus package is very competitive though the stocks are worth somewhat less than they used to be.  As a family the full-coverage health benefits alone are worth thousands.  Microsoft's commercial buying power is also negotiated in to a discount card for local vendors and suppliers.
Cons: Despite management efforts there is still a lingering sense of alpha-dog b.s.  Moreover the internal competition is often more intense than the external competition.  As a very developer/technology lead company sometimes it is a little too focused on create new vs. embracing the community.  Email is almost completely