Microsoft

Benefits are good if you are a full-time employee.

I have had good experiences at Microsoft with understanding groups and helpful team members.

With a strong manager at the helm of your group who demonstrates good leadership and communicates with you directly, you will walk away with a very good experience at MS.

Political obstacles affect nearly every aspect of what you do at MS. You will land on one side of the fence when pitted against your own team with respect to performance. Teamwork is limited by this fact. If you are on the right side of the performance fence, it's a rewarding place to work. If not, you will be micromanaged and won't enjoy what you are doing there.

Advice: Be willing to work hard and slightly less smart than you actually are so as to not get a poor review. Quality doesn't seem to matter as much as "just getting it done" does these days, as the emphasis has changed recently. Contributions are evaluated based on results. Key to getting results is to publicize the achievements that you generated within and outside of your group. Pick your partners carefully, as their failures will be evaluated as your own failures as well.

Sub-responsibilities that cannot be evaluated easily or at all because your boss may not or cannot understand the benefit should be handled with care. Spend as little time on those responsibilities as you can, as there is no value to your performance review by spending time on sub-responsibilities you may have inherited or gained familiarity with along the way that are not directly related to your objectives for the current month.

Be aware of career politicians. They are not the ones writing your software and services in most cases.

Managers who overlook significant contributions are rare, but when they do that type of thing, it is a bad deal for everyone. Ask yourself if you are aware of your people's contributions that have been overlooked completely.