Taro Logo

Only good for parents' bumper stickers: "My child works for Microsoft."

Operations Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Microsoft for less than 1 year
June 4, 2008
Redmond, Washington
1.0
Doesn't RecommendNo CEO Opinion
Pros

Microsoft is the world's largest software development company, which looks good to future employers.

Employees receive discounts when purchasing normally overpriced software.

Cons

You have to pay for food and snacks. Not a comfortable work environment; they discourage peaceful and collaborative working. They do not promote based on quality of work; instead, they promote based on popularity and their review system. Hard work is NEVER rewarded here. Instead, employees are promoted when they do less work and leave early. At Microsoft, if one person in management, regardless of their direct connection to you, doesn't like you, your next review will be damaged. I've received only one 0.5% raise in nearly 5 years of service. Microsoft has horrible retention of long-term employees. Management is free to ridicule employees. They 'claim' raises and promotions can happen any time, but I have never seen anyone receive a promotion or raise outside of once a year.

Advice to Management

Pay attention to the survey feedback provided by employees, not just the management feedback.

Attempt to correct salary and level mistakes as soon as possible.

I have seen many highly talented people leave Microsoft after a couple years because Microsoft fails to appreciate employees.

Was this helpful?

Microsoft Interview Experiences