Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-09-16
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: current

Go to Redmond if you want to work at Microsoft
Pros: The compensation is excellent with stock awards and bonuses for having a clearance.  Some projects are interesting and well run, you just have to find them.  The benefits from Redmond are nice, like getting a surface, WP8 phone and hardware refresh this year.
Cons: The federal consulting group in Reston, VA can be pretty demotivating.  There is a body shop mentality, so hiring standards are low and vacation and training are frequently denied so that you will bill more hours.  Selling work is what gets rewarded at review time, so it's tough to stay technical and have a good career.  If you get placed under a bad manager you are in trouble.