Ballmer once again exhibits 'Neo Matrix Style Foresight' in planning the Microsoft way. - Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) Microsoft Employee Review

5.0
1 May 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Microsoft is a great place to work because it gives you not only the opportunity to influence the team your working in no matter what the position, but also gives you the ability to get as involved as you want to be with other areas of the company, allowing you to influence the development and direction of products which you, your family and friends may use unrelated to your actual day to day job. You also get to play with lots of cool new apps and devices through internal beta programs. The best part though is your surrounded by geniuses

Cons

Microsoft attracts a large amount of very, very driven and focused people who work very hard, you will have to work very hard to meet the curve that is needed to see good bonuses and fast promotion. Working in a remote office for Microsoft can also be a downsize. Redmond is the beating heart of Microsoft and this can sometimes show through lesser facilities at remote offices. Politics as with any large company can slow progress on projects which can be frustraiting at times. Your ability to speak freely without bias around Microsoft products and services can also a downside.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
5 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Learned a lot, plenty of team work opportunities

Cons

Internship could have been longer than 4 weeks

4.0
28 Jan 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1. If you love tech, this is a great place. No doubt you'll talk tech (mostly the MSFT stack) from enterprise to consumer - from PCs to phones to Xboxes - from datacenter to desktop. 2. What were GREAT benefits are now VERY GOOD (took a small step down) but still probably better than you'll find at 99% of large corporations. If you've got family - the value of the benefits is even higher. 401k match is nice. 3. Even with it's struggles MSFT is still a cash printing machine. This means if you can keep your nose clean and do reasonable work, you can have a stable job, pay your bills, feed your family, and not worry (too much) about layoffs. The stock you own likely won't tank, but probably won't go up much either. You'll get a bonus each year and some stock. It's a decent life if you aren't looking to light the world on fire.

Cons

Brand on Your Resume: After many years of losing market share and struggling to be at the front end of innovation and the fact that there's 90,000 employees, don't think MSFT is necessarily going to be attractive on your resume to more agile and smaller companies. Managing Your Career: Make you say this out loud so it registers - 90,000 employees work there. Double that for vendors. It is VERY hard to "stand out" and move up in the company. Don't expect your manager to be much of an advocate or enabler to help you meet your career goals - they are basically trying to survive the stack rank every year too. Not familiar with the stack rank? Check out the 2012 Vanity Fair article called "Microsoft's Lost Decade".

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