Company: Microsoft
Date: 2013-03-26
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Microsoft Retail isn't a bad gig, so long as you realize that it's still a mall job at the end of the day.
Pros: 1. Plenty of free soda. They sometimes cater lunch or dinner as well if it's a special day.
2. Cool co-workers.
3. Laid back bosses.
4. Talk to people at the mall all day and sell them cool things like the Surface Pro. 
5. Some free swag (they handed out Surface RTs and free phones not too long ago). 
6. Access to the Microsoft corporate intranet and a @microsoft.com e-mail address.
Cons: 1. Limited hours. If you are full time, you are limited to 40 hours. If you are part time, you are limited to 20. This can rise during the holiday season, but you cannot work more or less than your stated hours, which reduces flexibility some.
2. You are prohibited from using your iPhone or Android phone on the floor, though I believe there is a restriction on this at the Apple Store, too.
3. It's a mall job, albeit a fun and well-paying one. You deal with lots of cool people, but there are also a lot of idiots as well.
4. No real way to get into Microsoft corporate - only positions available for those wishing to advance are managerial/computer technician positions. 
5. Retail is still a very new thing for this company - it's hard to say if it's going to stick around or disappear in the long term.
6. Too much focus on sales and metrics - we are a good bunch of salespeople, but if people are mum on a product, they are not going to buy it.