Company: Microsoft
Date: 2011-09-29
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current

Yes, there are issues, but overall, an excellent place to work
Pros: * Still a world leader in software, and is in tons of businesses and geographies, so there are plenty of career options long-term
* Dress code is casual, and company culture is laid back and forward-thinking - lots of opportunity to try new methods and ideas
* Pays well and has both a performance bonus and stock award based on performance
* Health benefits are second to none, and the company provides a ton of little extras that make life beter (gym membership, free beverages, flexible work arrangements, amazing company events and morale events, etc)
* Management very supportive of personal and professional development
* Amazingly diverse and bright group of co-workers - in my workgroup of ~40 people, I have co-workers from Japan, China, India, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Netherlands, France, and Canada - I get to travel around the world without leaving my office
* Very generous corporate culture - company sponsors a massive Giving campaign and strongly encourages its employees to give back to the community in various ways
Cons: * Organizational silos are brutal here - cross-group collaboration is getting better but still a major issue that the company needs to work on
* Not for everyone - you really have to own your development plan and commitments here - no one is going to hold your hand
* Corporate resources are plentiful and high quality, but can be very difficult to navigate
* Re-orgs are an unfortunate, regular part of life here
* Your Microsoft experience may vary considerably from group to group, so a lot depends on your immediate manager (which is good if you have a good one, but can be disastrous if you have a bad one)
* There are so many talented, bright, and hardworking people here that it can be very difficult to get noticed and advance - it's easy to get lost in the crowd of 80,000+ FTE's