Microsoft

Great training and mentoring programs. A fabulous company to start your career. Excellent benefits and good starting salaries. Brand recognition. If you want to work for the biggest and the best, Microsoft is the place to be.

Lots of long hours. Expect crunch times on every project, usually lasting anywhere from 25 to 40% of the product cycle.

Death marches, as they are called, can put unrealistic expectations on you, with 70-80+ hour weeks for months at a time, including weekends.

Trim the ranks of middle management. When you dissolve divisions and liquidate groups, trim some of the management fat as well. Managers should be managing their people more than their products.