Company: Microsoft
Date: 2014-07-18
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Good company with an evolving culture, some negatives, but mostly a memorable stay
Pros: - Benefits - From HR benefits such as emphasis on work-life balance and respect, down to the weekly free snack treats and the fridge full of soft drinks.
- Salary - Salary in Microsoft is slightly above industry average. Sales people get higher basic package compared to industry (but there's a con here too, see below)
- Respect - The management takes respect pretty seriously, and we really get to voice our opinion in a safe way
- The technology - This is the place to be if you want to be in cloud and to see the latest software innovations
- The brand - The name Microsoft opens a lot of doors
Cons: - Sales Pay Pack is ridiculous - You get a higher base than most (sales roles get 65:35 pay split), but you get none of your commission until you make 75% of your target. So in a tough year if you make 74%, its all down the drain.
- Red tape central - If you want to see red tape in all of its splendor, come and join Microsoft
- Anal about Score card - Want to see sales people sell strategic products that bring no revenue? How to make sales force sell partner products but without compensating them for it? Join Microsoft to find out about their famed scorecard system, and you will see how you can squeeze people to do things they are not naturally inclined to
- Buddy-buddy system - Its very common for friends to hire other friends in Microsoft because of the emphasis on an internal metric called Work Health Index, which measures and rewards managers for reviews by their downliners. If I were a manager, I might be very tempted to hire a friend who would rate me well than a good performer who might have something critical (but relevant and useful) to say.