Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-09-18
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Support Engineer
Pros: Microsoft is a large, well-established employer that offers a host of great fringe benefits, such as a gym membership, legal support, life insurance, etc.. Salaries are fairly competetive and if you are a programmer or project manager, there are thousands of opportunities. For most roles, work hours are flexible with regard to start times and the like. There are a lot of training opportunities as well as tuition reimbursement as long as you are working towards a degree.
Cons: The performance management system sets up a somewhat hostile environment or at the very least an undercurrent of distrust and one-upmanship. You are reviewed against peers and other people in your 'level band' within your organization and across the company. There are a lot of politics involved and your score can become very subjective based on the Manager/Directors perception of you, rather than your actual accomplishments.