Microsoft – “Work with the best and brightest co-workers.”

Pros

Your colleagues are the best! Microsoft gets the best and brightest talent from around the world and puts them in global, cross-functional teams. You will learn cultural differences in business around the world and how to navigate them for a global brand. Very stimulating and great experience.

Cons

No work-life balance. Everyone is overloaded, so planning is often given short shrift which just starts the cycle all over again. It's especially difficult if you deal with vendors or partners. They are not on your timetable and they are not in the wrong. Microsoft alienates a lot of people with its last-minute demands.

Advice to Senior Management

Lack of transperancy creates a somewhat Macciavelian environment among managers. There can be huge shifts in funding for projects from fiscal year to fiscal year. This year's hot project can be next year's goat. It's impossible to do long-term planning.