Microsoft

For type A personalities that can handle the politics, you can make a very good living. The benefits are amazing.

The Redmond campus is a very nice place to work. Your experience will depend greatly on the group you wind up in. For those fortunate enough to hook up with a good group and get a good manager, MS is a great place to work.

The company's core businesses, Windows and Office, still provide a near-guaranteed flow of profit. There is no worry about the company hurting for cash anytime soon.

If the offer is from the right group, and you can handle the politics, then I recommend giving Microsoft a try.

On the other hand, if you get a bad manager or wind up in a position that is a poor fit, your career at Microsoft will end swiftly, even if you have a long history of strong performance. Every year, 20% of employees are given poor rankings (forced distribution), effectively ending their career at Microsoft. The forced rank distribution ensures that half of all new hires are gone within 5 years and will not vest the majority of their stock awards. Discount the value of your job offer accordingly.

Microsoft is a giant company, and it's nearly impossible to be more than a small cog of the machine. If you're looking to be a force for change, look elsewhere. If you try to change the company from the inside, you're more than likely going to make enough enemies to end your career.

Although the company is still a top employer, many of the very best programmers go to Facebook or Google if they can.

The company hasn't achieved anything in the past decade. Management needs to be changed at the top. If the company didn't have such vast retained earnings, change would have been forced many years ago.