Company: Microsoft
Date: 2014-09-23
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Confirmed

Under no circumstances would I work here again, and I regret the years I put in.
Pros: Decent compensation packages, although very little room for negotiation.
Intelligent teammates.
Nice lateral movement across teams with minimal wait time (18 months or less, with manager approval)
There are some teams that still have private offices, although for most products the open office model might be better.
401K match up to 6% of salary.
Health Club.
Cons: The politics at Microsoft are cutthroat and the performance review model based on a graded curve is archaic and contra-indicated for software development, which thrives on collaboration and cooperation.  While this ranking system is supposed to have been abolished recently, after 30+ years of its extreme influence as to management promotion and leadership reviews, it is unlikely that this atmosphere of a zero-sum compensation model (there is no winner without a loser), is anything less than entrenched, and, consequently, Microsoft would not be a place to risk years of one's career when there are just as attractive jobs waiting at companies who were of the you-win, we-all-win philosophy from inception.