Company: Microsoft
Date: 2021-02-22
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Confirmed

Slow movement, massive rewards
Pros: Pay and compensation regularly above market. Remote work has been always available, and a giant organization gives employees the opportunity to explore all kinds of interests and resources. Culture of inclusion pivoting to hire from "non-traditional" backgrounds is beginning to build an interesting and diverse workforce. Strong Senior Leadership. Great benefits, tuition reimbursement especially. Skilling focus, self-managed growth and learning opportunities, and the name recognition that can be quite impressive to external hiring.
Cons: Benefits standard for tech, but on the lower rungs (retail, employees sub. <60,000) the co-pays can be impactful. Difficult to time tuition reimbursements to "real" college semesters, best to apply yearly instead.

Management in direct teams are under so much pressure to perform that they can in turn overwhelm or give conflicting information on a day-to-day basis. Low retail-to-corporate transition pipeline exacerbated by shuttering of retail stores in favor of hub model. Poor communication when internal hires are concerned. 

Rarely hear back from hiring managers or recruitment agents unless you are being hired. No feedback on interviews that do not result in a hire. Promises for temporary roles to become permanent that never materialize and return now over-skilled employees to lower rungs, making even moving forward in another organization difficult.

Quarterly team rotations leave customers with few resources that they know directly, and employees are often placed on a merry-go-round of "find new person in charge."