Pros
1. Opportunity to learn -> you can learn from many interesting and technical people, get free certifications, develop some new skills - that is undeniable. Microsoft supports all kind of learning or personal development which is really cool. 2. Microsoft in your CV. It really helps :) 3. Getting to know some amazing people. Dublin office is huge and there's loads of great individuals worth hanging out with! 4. Awesome office, including: - great food (although not free) - great cafe - music room - yoga room - ping pong - chill out areas 5. Huge amount of materials to learn (not only related to IT), possibility of getting your MBA or other study course funded - super cool!
Cons
This is only related to Digital Sales in Dublin Office! 1. Salaries are joke. Comparing to Google, Facebook, Hubspot, Twitter and other big players in Ireland, Microsoft pays less. Sometimes even 20-30%. They will tell you that 'they're adjusting salaries to market' but it's not really a thing. If you wanna earn a lot of money (especially in sales) go elsewhere. Negotiation/salary increase/promotion is rather symbolic and the promotion process has been criticized many times by employees yet nothing much has changed. There's a bigger change of getting promoted if you're 'visible' than getting rewarded for your hard work. That means there's a very little chance to get a proper salary increase regardless if you're a senior or not. Fun fact: Even MS managers tend to say - if you want a raise, quit and come back after 2 years. 2. Taxation in Ireland is ridiculously high -> keep that in mind when considering an offer. Income tax is around 40% and bonuses are taxed 50%! Big chunk of sales salary is a bonus... so do the math. There's nothing much Microsoft does in order to change it (even though they could, there are special tax schemes that, neither you get any benefits while paying highest taxes in the country. (No free healthcare, no public transport, no free childcare + ridiculously expensive rentals starting from 1700EUR/a month for 1bed apartment). 3. No career growth opportunities in Digital Sales. As a few other people mentioned already, Irish managers are always first to consider, regardless of their experience. That makes it really difficult for anyone else becoming a manager. Other than first line manager position, there's not much available (unless you wanna change position/workload but that's not too much of a change now is it. Finding a job outside of Digital Sales is very challenging and can take years (although it's possible). 4. Visibility Bubble. You'll keep seeing and hearing the same faces getting rewarded/awarded/highlighted etc.