Company: Microsoft
Date: 2014-07-25
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Senior

Microsoft: Excellent Opportunity to Grow your Skills
Pros: Depending on where you are in the company it can be a great experience or a poor one. A lot depends on your immediate management chain and that can reflect someone's job satisfaction and  perception around growth opportunities. I have been in bad places and good ones. Bad management has made me want to leave the company, made me feel unrewarded and underutilized whereas times where I have been under seasoned, skilled management chain I have felt challenged, rewarded, recognized. Flexibility of work schedule has been great and I am able to find work-life 'fit' i.e. something that works for me in a demanding environment.
Cons: Microsoft has many sub-cultures. On one hand it can have petty territorial battles that is targeted only to further interests of an individual and his/her chosen few with little flexibility and no personal consideration. The more hour one puts in (be it working or just socializing and building relationships) is seen as more valuable than someone who is efficient and gets things done. In right environment that dynamic does change to 'getting it done' attitude. It is a high pressure and demanding environment and place where one has to learn to live with ambiguity and change of direction, frequently.