Pros: Good for young people who do not have a family to support.

Cons: If you are not creative, it is better to get out of this company.

Pros: Good health benefits are available for everyone at Microsoft. In the Seattle/Redmond area, you get a health club membership or can opt for $800/year in reimbursed expenses. Need a new bicycle to work out? You can use it for that. Microsoft has been good on resumes for getting interviews at my new company; however, most experienced Microsoft engineers fail their interviews because the work at Microsoft doesn't prepare them well to get hired outside. You have to prepare yourself.

Cons: Your work at Microsoft prepares you to do your job at Microsoft, not a lot on the outside. Every year someone would get a bad annual review, which meant everybody was on edge for the rest of the year. What does that mean? There is incentive for your coworkers to stab you in the back. Managers don't know much about your daily work, so presentation skills are vital to get the visibility you need to survive. No matter how much Microsoft wants you to have work-life balance, everyone ends up sacrificing it due to the threat of a bad review. That doesn't mean your boss wants to skewer you (he/she might; different story), it means everything is tinged with internal competition. Internal competition is more important than external, because the customers won't fire you, but your boss will.

Pros: Good work environment and great benefits. Work/life balance isn't bad at all, although this is something you need to actively manage. Otherwise, work does tend to take over your life.

Cons: Too many meetings. As I mentioned, it's somewhat hard to get the work/life balance right at times.