Company: Microsoft
Date: 2013-09-20
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Best company I've worked at so far
Pros: Great compensation compared to other places I have worked.  Good support from management chain on work life balance for employees.

Each person's experience at Microsoft depends greatly on their group and two immediate manager levels.  Picking a good team and lead on your interview phase is key to your success here.  I was proactive in learning about and choosing the team I joined, and have had my best work years here.
Cons: Large company, everyone's experience differs.  Some groups are toxic, and detrimental to employee motivation and health.  Turnover seems to be high in groups with highly skilled engineers who leave for more interesting/profitable opportunities (good engineers are always head hunted).  If you can't handle change well, you'll be perpetually stressed out losing people you built work relationships with.