Company: Microsoft
Date: 2013-06-09
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Work here only if you're type A and play to win at all costs
Pros: - good pay and benefits
- wealth of information and knowledge on company intranet
- intelligent coworkers, nice people do exist below the Director level
- lots of job opportunities and global mobility if you can handle the game
- casual attire every day
- free Starbucks coffee
Cons: I read most of the 1 and 2 star reviews here for worst case scenario before I took the offer, hoping to be one of the luckier ones to land a decent team and boss. No such luck. Everything you read under the Cons section is true. Easily my worst work experience in 15 years crossing a number of public corporations in different industries.

- aggressive, competitive, super political culture
- management by fear and intimidation
- if you are coming from a different industry or company, think twice or more, new people are easy target, you will not get help
- the Microsoft values posted are the very things they don't practice
- certain people make you think you're on Survivor, others make you feel you're in The Emperor's New Clothes
- 12-14 hour days (and I'm in a non-tech role)
- I was advised by well-intentioned colleagues to only do what's visible to execs in Redmond even when it means screwing your local team over, it's all about managing up just to survive
- lack of guidance and direction, decision making is like throwing darts in the dark
- read the other reviews on glassdoor