Why work for Microsoft?

Answer 1

From what I've read they pay extremely well. I also read that the employee's of Microsoft get a Hundred Thousand Dollar bonus each Christmas. With being well paid and doing what has to be an exciting job, who wouldn't want to work for Microsoft?

Personal Experiences:

I worked for Microsoft for 3 years. Yes, they pay well. Yes, there is cool stuff created there. Yes, you get all the free soda you can drink.

But, it is an incredibly dysfunctional company. I had 6 bosses in 3 years - and I had the same job for those 3 years. Each boss comes in and "shakes things up," so that they can make their mark on the org. Microsoft runs itself like a spoiled child - very demanding, and never taking the time to understand the reality of the demands it is making. In the end, I became a victim of the 6th boss - I was the fall guy for all of his failures, and I got canned. 3 years of good reviews, and I was fired with no warning.

Unless you are willing to be a means to someone else's end, work somewhere else. The brass ring cannot be caught at Microsoft.

As much as I enjoyed working at Caltech/JPL, it wasn't until I got to Microsoft that I realized that there's an enormous difference between working for a software company and a company where software is just a step towards some other goal (space science, finance, medicine, retail, etc.).Everyone at Microsoft "gets" software - the managers, the administrative assistants, the vice presidents... Even many of the "blue collar" workers (cooks, janitors, bus drivers) know something about software - it's not normal! At NASA, most managers and even some scientists had no real understanding of software or software development. Elevating the common denominator in this way makes Microsoft a wonderful workplace for people who love making software (even if it's far removed from the reality of "the real world", which can cause other problems, like overinflating the importance of software).