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Working at Microsoft: Company Overview and Reviews
Microsoft
4446 reviews
Microsoft Ratings
4.1
Average rating of 4446 reviews on Indeed
| 3.8 | Work-Life Balance | |
| 4.1 | Pay & Benefits | |
| 3.4 | Job Security & Advancement | |
| 3.5 | Management | |
| 3.8 | Culture |
Headquarter
Redmond, Washington
Employee
10,000+
Revenue
More than $10B (USD)
Industry
Internet and Software
Website
Popular jobs at Microsoft
| Average Salary | Salary Range | |
|---|---|---|
Software Engineer 8 Salaries reported | $53.75 per hour | $26.85-$80.65 |
Senior Software Engineer 2 Salaries reported | $86.00 per hour | $43.00-$200.00 |
Senior Program Manager 2 Salaries reported | $50.00 per hour | $25.00-$75.00 |
Product Manager 8 Salaries reported | $127,750 per year | $63,000-$192,000 |
Service Engineer 2 Salaries reported | $102,000 per year | $51,000-$153,000 |
Salary Satisfaction
Of the employees are satisfied about their pay
Based on 2889 reviews
Benefits
Health Care
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
401k
Paid Time Off
Stock Options
Discounts
Overall Reviews at Microsoft
Service Engineer | Redmond, WA | Jan 27, 2020
Extraordinary opportunity to develop yourself
It was only when I left MS did I fully appreciate what MS provided and what they left me with.
Although the culture has drastically change while i was there, I was fortunate to experience it before it changed. The interview process was there to weed out those who are just intelligent, from those who are great thinkers. As a result, the caliber of people you work with, and how you work with them, was phenomenal. There are pockets of managers that found a way to stick around, but the majority i've met were great mentors and leaders.
My regret is taking this environment for granted. Once I left I'd assumed everyone and every place operated this efficiently, and everyone had the same integrity. This is not the case.
Take advantage of all the methods they have of developing your 'soft skills', ones you can only learn on the job. Take the 'commitment' process seriously, not just when they're due. It's helped me tremendously Post-MS.
By the time i left, the hardest and most uncomfortable part of the job, was the open space concept. Sounds trivial, but compared to having an office you could close a door to get in your zone, was invaluable.
Identify those people who don't follow the culture, quickly. Be aware of those few, and steer clear. They're toxic. Be positive and focus on the mission at hand, and don't work in a silo'd, sheltered mode. This is a great opportunity to get help developing those communication and collaborative skills.
jThey compensatioon
Software Engineer | Redmond, WA | May 23, 2018
Smart people but company culture discourages collaboration outside the team
The company culture encourages protecting yourself by avoiding any work that is not directly assigned by your manager, because any delay in your work will affect your review from your manager. Everyone also values time alone, often closing their offices and making themselves unavailable through emails and instant messages. It can be difficult to get buy-in on a project from other teams, even for small things like code reviews or short meetings. Additionally, the PMs responsible for handling these kinds of issues routinely leave the company or move to different departments.
There is very little cross-team knowledge-sharing. Even within the same team, until you are sent a code review, you rarely know much detail about what your teammates are working on.
The company is full of smart engineers who produce good work, but there is a collective resignation to the mountains of legacy code that will always be a thorn in their sides. No one is interested in improving the situation, because all of their assigned work is feature work and they don't have the time.
There was a surprising lack of developer tools (aside from the standard public-facing tools like Visual Studio and TFS), with essentially no standardization across the company. Every team had their own ways of building, deploying, and monitoring code. However, this did improve noticeably during my time at Microsoft, with a new company build platform and some standardization of source control, code reviews, and pre-check
Product Advisor | Freehold, NJ | Oct 30, 2019
Just Another Retail
I don't know if it is different in MS corporate, but the retail locations are just like any other retail job. Long hours- usually 9 hour days, not including whatever your travel may be. While employees make no commission, they are still pushed to basically hound customers to try and get them to buy. You never actually get 40 hours a week as a full-time employee, as they leave 2-3 hours "just in case you have to stay with a customer" to avoid giving overtime. While yes, you have PTO, you are less likely to get weekend requests off.
I quickly learned that employees who go above and beyond trying to help out are cut down, and at the very least, unappreciated. Management is checked out and more focused on numbers than employee happiness/contentment. I went from assisting with 4 other roles, when the store had been short on help in those roles, aside from my own, back down to just being a Product Advisor because a full-timer should always be at the top of the sales scorecard. Near impossible to climb the ladder or change positions once you are in a role.
Benefits and being able to accrue PTO was nice, as was the higher-than-normal pay rate, but did not outweigh the poor treatment. I will also say that out all retail positions I've held, this crew was the one with the least amount of in-fighting/dislike of one another.
It's a good job if you need a higher wage, are getting your foot in the door with technology, are good at selling, or need retail flexible hours.
It'
Senior Software Engineer | Redmond, WA | Sep 14, 2018
Great place to work. Switch to open spaces has mixed reviews
Microsoft is a great place to work. Buildings are pleasing, your beverage intake needs are met, from teas, coffees, sodas, coconut milk etc.. cost free.
One thing that really makes me excited to work at Microsoft is that they are continuously evolving. There is no "standard procedure". Those are thrown out the window ever couple of months with re-orgs and re-focusing. Microsoft invents the next "standard procedure" and moves on to better ideas in empowering it's developers. If you're use to business as usual approach that some companies use, diving into a company's culture like Microsoft can either be invigorating, or leave you grasping for some sense of normalcy in your day to day. But, that's the idea behind a growth mind set.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of open spaces that Microsoft is moving towards. Either you love it or hate it. Collaboration has improved dramatically and all your peers, managers, skip levels are all easily accessibly right across the room from you. But loud conversations, people eating all manner of aromatic foods at their desks along with their eating habits (smacking, crunching etc..), leave much to be desired over traditional offices.
ProsFree Soda - cofee - tea, pool tables, arcades, showers for bikers, very well balanced work / home life, free Orca cards for bus / trains and for vanpool subsidy, Hackathons, Gaming Garage, 3D Printing Garage
ConsOpen Space move, frequent re-orgs - culture re-focusing
SalesForce Administrator | Redmond, WA | Nov 1, 2018
Productive and career advancement company to work for
Involved and interacted with various business user groups for gathering the requirements for CRM
implementation.
Created profiles, Roles based on Organization role hierarchy and implement record level and field
level security and configured their sharing settings.
Created workflow rules and defined related tasks, time triggered tasks, email alert, field updates to
implement business logic.
Created a sync of contacts, events and tasks between sales force to outlook and outlook to sales force
successfully.
Used Debugger making use of Breakpoints to monitor data movement and troubleshoot the
mappings.
Worked with Data loader for loading the attachments into salesforce.com, related to objects like
Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, and Activities.
Create Email Templates and mail merge Templates and involved in doing mail merge for different
standard and custom objects.
Analyzing different business reports and customization of those reports in sales force.
Use force.com developer toolkit including Apex classes, Apex triggers and visual force pages to
develop custom business
Created and used Email templates in HTML and Visual force.
Developed Case Queues which automatically assign cases to a specific user or group of users based on
predefined criteria.
Working on record types, validation rules, triggers and page layouts
Systems Analyst | Remote | Sep 24, 2018
vendor at Microsoft
Microsoft is a great place to work, if you can handle the pressure. It's not just that your work is constantly being evaluated, it is, and that's fine, but you are also asked to constantly provide proof of your value to the company. Constantly. What I'm saying is that doing great work isn't enough, you have to be skilled at demonstrating to management the value your work brings to Microsoft (if you weren't a PowerPoint expert before working at Microsoft, you will be), you literally have to quantify the measure of your work constantly. That may be easy to do in a sales or account manager role, but in an IT role, that's often difficult to do, but you HAVE to do it, and that, in my opinion, adds unnecessary stress to the role.
In addition, as a vendor, when push comes to shove, you are hired help, and the FTEs let you know. Even though they preach "team" a lot, you are an outsider. Period.
ProsRemote work, great pay, modern offices with cafeteria, lots of access to cutting-edge tech, Very philanthropic company - always some event going on to help the needy
ConsA lot of pressure, no training whatsoever, you come in and are expected to know your role and perform, periodic restructuring causes a lot of chaos, vendors are treated as hired help, vendor contracts are only 1 year long, strange policy doesn't allow a vendor to work for more than 18 months in a row at MS, management can be a hit or miss
Move Manager | Redmond, WA | May 15, 2019
Nice place and pey
Great place
To learn new skills and help people get hired for excellent paying jobs I have been there since I was a teenager but could not find suitable work it’s a very drop the ball and do it yourself mentality they tell you once and say does it feel like I’m repeating myself or I’ll be on vacation along with all the other administration team and if you need help I’ll be back in three weeks it’s a replacement and fill in for me and my friend or whatever you get some ice for my beer bash party after work but your not invited and thanks for setting up this party go back to your office and The bagels are not for you just put them out and set the table up and clean up the mess don’t forget you need to be here 1hour early for the deliveries and put all the new computers in your small office and hey where’s my tools I cant find them says the Admins who were on vacation oh by the way my big storage room is messy I have no idea what’s in there label and clean everything then walk to the new hire blue badge and set up the furniture and computer for them then recycle the old computers can you go to the store and buy some lemonade pink and yellow by the way I said this was going to be a full time to hire job but I lied it’s only 3 weeks thanks
Max Wolfgang Smith. A-Maxs
ProsGood food and benefits
ConsNot paid enough money to afford cost of living
Cloud Engineer | Las Colinas, TX | Oct 30, 2018
Microsoft Azure Support role
There are great things at Microsoft and not so great things. Just like any other company.
Working there was casual, no shirt and tie.
Being employed there as a contractor is very much, “in your face.” You are reminded multiple times daily that a contractor, you may not attend this meeting or that training. Which is a crime since my team was hired to support bigger customers moving to or trying to move to Azure and AzureAD. The two weeks of training consisted of two full time support engineers (one the first week, the other the second) reading a 50+ slide PowerPoint deck to new hires in Las Colinas and North Carolina. This was the most disappointing part of my time at Microsoft.
There was little help from full-time engineers and the actual behind the scenes support of customers was often sophomoric. There were extraordinary engineers if you found you way to a “Senior” Engineering Skype conference. If you could not find and beg someone to be your mentor, you had no chance of sticking around.
I could add much, much more, both good and bad. I’m personally happy to have had the opportunity to work there. I do believe my expertise lies in building up a small organizations’ resources in order for them to grow their business, not in mega-Corp wackiness.
Manager | Redmond, WA | Mar 9, 2020
Worked here for years, have the scars to prove it
If you want a covertly racist but overtly discriminatory work environment, then this is the place for you.
"Growth mindset," "fail fast/learn fast," "assume positive intent," and all the other corporate mantras only apply if you look/act/sound like the majority.
Independent thought is curb-stomped out of existence, a vast majority believe themselves to be experts (with egos to match) but are functionally mediocre at best, and mid-level managers run rampant but do very little and have no impact besides taking credit for the work of others.
Regardless of how much you bend over backward for people, are genuinely invested in the growth of peers and the overall success of the company, and do your best to operate efficiently, professionally, and mindfully, it is all for nought if you don't *look* the part.
Racism itself does not function as a good/bad binary - there are plenty of good people who are fundamentally racist, just as there are bad people who are not. Where racism turns to discrimination is at the point where thought (unconscious or not) turns to action.
More often than not, those actions disproportionately affect minorities - all we did to deserve it was show up.
Senior Content Manager | Redmond, WA | Oct 7, 2018
Refining fire - how 15 years at Microsoft shaped my approach to work
In the time I worked at Microsoft, I experienced a "survival of the fittest" workplace. You either grabbed your seat at the table and made sure your voice was heard, or it it wouldn't be. No one invited you to share your opinion, no one was going to take you by the hand and show you the way. The best advice I received was in my first year from a woman I admired for her influence and confidence. She said, "The way to be successful at Microsoft is to find a problem to solve that no one else is solving. Make sure solving it supports our mission, and then go for it." I took that advice to heart, and in every role I had from then on I was a problem seeker, and when I found that problem I viewed it as an opportunity to make things better, have positive impact, and learn something new. I had to gather my courage many times to speak up about the problems I identified, I had to be tenacious, to come prepared with solutions, and to persist despite being dismissed or ignored. The lessons I learned in doing that serve me to this day, and I'm grateful for them.
ProsPassionate, smart colleagues
ConsEntrenched alpha male management layer that suffocates innovation
Questions And Answers about Microsoft
How should dress for an interview?
Asked Jul 22, 2016
With very elegant dress
Answered Mar 23, 2019
Should be comfortable.Should be neat, clean and ironed.
Answered Mar 23, 2019
How are the working hours at Microsoft?
Asked Jul 7, 2016
Its doesn't matter the or the shift.
Answered Jun 6, 2018
I work 40 hours per week
Answered May 21, 2018
If you were in charge, what would you do to make Microsoft a better place to work?
Asked Apr 17, 2018
Put less emphasis on relocating folks as a condition of employment. As a technology leader MSFT has the resources to create a workforce that doesn’t rely on location for most roles. For those who do live/work at HQ stop moving toward open offices and focus on private/semi-private workspaces that are surrounded by community spaces.
Answered Dec 22, 2019
If I was was in charge I would make sure that at all times my staff is in the best mood physical and mentally so that when customers come to shop they feel at home. I would also be sure that we feel like a team and not as if I am the boss but a team where we all have a say so in any directions made.
Answered Dec 15, 2019
Do Microsoft get paid weekly or monthly?
Asked Dec 15, 2016
Twice in a month
Answered Jan 16, 2018
Microsoft pays Bi-weekly
Answered Mar 31, 2017
Is Sales Associate - Retail (Part-time) the same as Consumer Product Advisor? What are the differences and what is easier to get into?
Asked Jul 7, 2016
To provide a customers better offer on product Advisor
Answered Jan 16, 2018
A product advisor sounds like someone who helps a customer decide what they want to buy, rather than tries to sell them something.
Answered Dec 30, 2017