Pros
Benefits are not doubt the best reason to work at Microsoft. They are beyond any of the many companies that I have worked for or consulted for. The company's management aspires to do great things. There is no doubt a fighting spirit at this company. You can work your entire career at Microsoft and have 10 different jobs in 10 different business lines. There really is something for everyone. You can go from consumer to business. You can work in marketing, business, project management, product management if you can prove your ability to do so. If you become one of the few execs in the company you can make alot of money.
Cons
The commute in Redmond is horrifying. And parking at Microsoft is a nightmare. And it is mostly caused by really bad planning by both the city, county and Microsoft executives. Microsoft has created a culture where people are rewarded more for shooting down ideas than actually finding solutions. There is also more reward for people just thinking of cool stuff and not alot of reward for quality execution of an idea. Executives ask for feedback but they don't really listen to it. In fact it is pretty clear that none of them want it. There is a tendency for the company to hire lots of smart people but only so many people can move up the ladder. As a result you have alot of people fighting for the same jobs with almost the same qualifications. It rains alot in Seattle. Don't believe anything anyone else tells you.
