Microsoft Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Great working environment. Company supports and encourages future learning and development. Amazing culture

Cons – Long hours on certain projects

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the great culture.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft as an intern for less than a year

Pros – -there are a lot of interns/co-ops so you get a friendly atmosphere
-a lot of autonomy
-challenging assignments

Cons – -sometimes it's hard to get work when you're working with more qualified people

Advice to Senior Management – -more feedback

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft as an intern for more than a year

Pros – Lots of learning opportunities and chance to make a real impact on business

Cons – Steep learning curve but that's the fun of it

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Microsoft full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – It is important to not that at Microsoft, like most large companies your employment experience will vary greatly based on your group, team and direct manager.

Some very smart, creative people
huge range of jobs, roles and teams to keep you interested
good salary and great benefits
lots of opportunities to give back to the community

Cons – work life balance? forget it
review system encourages backstabbing, cutthroat behaviour
frequent reorgs

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Microsoft

Pros – I learned a lot during my time working here. Anyone who is looking for a great employer, this would be it.

Cons – Cons would have to be sitting at a desk all day. Although I saw it coming, it was very difficult year after year.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing what you're doing!

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft full-time for less than a year

Pros – The company itself is very good and provides good benefits and perks, including free products at certain times. At times the job involved playing XBOX and running fun workshops for kids. It's an excellent company to have on your resume, and there is some potential for using it as a springboard to a corporate position at Microsoft (although I cannot say how possible this really is).

Cons – The pay for the position was laughably low given the requirements and expectations, and significantly lower than Microsoft's major competition. Many staff were temps brought on from agencies, who were strung along for months with no idea if/when they would ever be awarded full-time positions. Store management varied between absent, incompetent, childish, and downright awful human beings, and poisoned the working environment.

Advice to Senior Management – Fire the management team and replace them with people that understand the importance of creating a positive working environment. Stop hiring from Future Shop, Staples, Best Buy, etc. and source managers from stores that make customer service and atmosphere a priority: Microsoft retail should be treated as a boutique, not a big-box retail outlets, but management does not seem to understand this.

Pay your employees better. As in, enough to actually live on in Toronto. The pay is acceptable for a part-time position while one is a student, but is not enough to keep full-time employees from pursuing better options, particularly given that with the skill set Microsoft helps develop, they could likely earn 2-3X as much elsewhere.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft

Pros – - they know how to host parties

Cons – - management is running in their own world while employees do their own business
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Current Employee – been working at Microsoft as an intern for less than a year

Pros – It's a great company to work for and prestigious in many ways. The people who work here are some of the brightest, and also very well-rounded. Lots of opportunities if you are willing to create them and chase them.

Cons – High pressure and always on the go. Mentoring and training isn't as well structured as it should be.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus more on employee development and training.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft full-time for less than a year

Pros – training was ok i guess

Cons – lack of support for staff

Advice to Senior Management – don't let call centers treat your tech staff so badly

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Microsoft full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great pay and benefits. Opportunity for self-improvement is the best. If you are the type that likes to constantly learn, then jump on board, but it's a fire hose of information! Great managers and people to work with, but very high expectations, so be willing and ready to go overboard on delivery.

Cons – Travel, travel, travel. A lot of internal processes that take time away from your primary job and don't seem to make sense to your job. Did I say travel?

Advice to Senior Management – Better onboarding processes instead of being thrown into the fire.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company