Pros: Good benefits, work-life balance.

Cons: Bureaucracy, stack ranking, and lower pay than competitors.

Pros: Good work-life balance. Pay is average, but the benefits make up for it. Nice discounts on Microsoft software, and a free MSDN account with more product keys than you will ever need. Lots of friendly and interesting co-workers over the years. No one cares if you are a Microsoft/Apple/Google lover. The new focus on all platforms means you are free to use any technology in the office and not be frowned upon for it.

Cons: Microsoft can change your job title/function and rip your career out from under you whenever they feel like it. They completely did away with Software Engineer in Test, which I have been for nearly a decade. Management does not provide good advice on how to advance your career in the company; you have to figure it out on your own. The automation and code repository systems used by many parts of Microsoft are really out of date and cause significant delays in work. After getting rid of the test role, Microsoft in-development software is extremely buggy. You are expected to use it during your everyday work to find bugs, and they keep begging you to install it on your home systems. I am not paid enough to put my data and personal systems at risk.

Pros: I love my team here at MS. My manager is very understandable. I’m able to gain a lot of both technical experience and leadership experience here.

Cons: Close to impossible to convert into full time.