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Mixed bag of goodies

Software Development Engineer II
Current Employee
Has worked at Microsoft for 4 years
January 24, 2014
Redmond, Washington
4.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Salary is less than Facebook or Google, but it's still significantly higher than most places. If you do good work and make sure the right people know about it, you'll be richly rewarded. Almost everyone here is extremely smart, so it keeps you on your toes. I also love having my own office.

Cons

Re-orgs. Ugh. Considering the fact that your managers' perception of your work is more important than your actual work (like in any other corporate environment), dealing with the constant trauma of re-orgs is disheartening.

A pending re-org all but guarantees that you won't get any credit for your short-term work. So, if your goal is recognition and high reviews, you have to actively manage your career by finding a manager you like and following him/her through every org change.

Also, even though everyone is extremely smart, egos are very high.

Advice to Management

I'm skeptical about the new review system. It sounds exactly like the old one, but now with new vocabulary and less transparency.

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