33
eNPS Score
Q&A With Microsoft Employees
One of the most important drivers of our success is our culture. We fundamentally believe that we need a growth mindset culture. This starts with the belief that everyone can grow and develop; potential is nurtured, not predetermined; and anyone can change their mindset.
How employees describe working at Microsoft
great awesome. this is the best company
Review from Product Dept
Microsoft pays for a part of it.
Too many things to list!
Review from Marketing Dept
Challenges and Hiring Process really needs improvement.
Review from IT Dept
Microsoft has been hands-down the best place to work. It's hard to find a company that has a great brand, bright future, world-class employees, a generous compensation package, and positive culture.
Review from Engineering Dept
What it's like to work at Microsoft
- Microsoft employees generally work 9.2 hrs a day
- Employees at Microsoft report the work pace is comfortably fast
- On a typical day, employees at Microsoft have 2 meetings
- 84% of Microsoft employees look forward to interacting with their team every day
- Microsoft employees most often take 20-30 paid vacation and sick days each year
- 73% of Microsoft employees report they are happy with their work life balance
- Microsoft employees typically get valuable feedback on how to improve at work Once a quarter
- 82% of Microsoft employees call their work environment positive
Q&A With Microsoft Employees
IDX: 25 TOT: 163
What's the work from home policy like at Microsoft?
Depends on the group
Varies from team to team. Many teams allow some work from home as long as you are in the office for core meetings and such.
They prefer you work in the office but are very flexible in time of need.
How flexible is your work schedule at Microsoft?
Flexible but long hours
Extremely flexible work schedule as long as you put in your time and let management know where you are.
Very flexible
Who did you meet with during your interview? And how long did it take to hear back from Microsoft?
Next day
Department Heads in Customer Success & Sales.
It took two months
How do I do well in an interview at Microsoft?
Research all you think you need to know, offline and on, get a good night sleep, be prepared and believe in yourself based on facts that this team will benefit from your skills, be pure in intention.
Be prepared.
Microsoft is an extremely collaborative, team oriented, diverse company with many many products/departments. Remember that.
How's the leadership on the Engineering team at Microsoft?
With about 50,000 engineers across hundreds of teams as you can imagine, the leadership is varied. Some leaders are more laid back some are very intense. At the top, Satya Nadella is a very calm, compassionate and intelligent CEO.
Wonderful, open, honest, caring, intelligent, empathetic.
very risk averse
What do people at Microsoft think about the CEO? What do they do well and what can they improve?
I think they appreciate that he has been good for Microsoft. He has laid a lot of people off since joining and that does not seem to bother him, which is unsettling. It does not feel that he instills a sense of trust between him and his employees.
MS employees think highly of Satea. He has made a difference in the performance of the company and stockholders value.
he is excellent and very personable
Do you think men and women are treated differently at work? How so?
Not really. Women are generally as respected as men.
Women are treated better than men, especially older men
Women are treated much better. Microsoft has exec bonuses tied to diversity. A sales career for a woman means lots of opportunity.
Do you get any cool swag as a new employee?
Yeah, depending on the group you are joining, they give out lots of cool stuff, T-shirts, etc.
I've been at Microsoft a long time and came from a different company (not directly from university) so no, I didn't.
No
If i want to work from home occasionally is it OK or are people weird about that?
This depends greatly on your manager and how much they trust you. If you are reliable and have a good manager, this is never an issue.
I have found them to be very flexible with work hours. Maintaining a good work / life balance is a core value at the company. Most manager will allow occasional work from home as long as your are meeting your commitments.
It depends on your org or team but if it's occasional (like once/twice a month) no one will blink an eye.
What is Microsoft's policy towards pets in the workplace?
They don't allow pets unless the pet is a service animal.
There is a sign up on our building that says that they only allow certified service animals. So not your pet and not your dog that you bought a service vest for off of Ebay.
NO PETS.
Does the company practice any form of Job Rotation? If so, in what structure and to what objective?
Microsoft is constantly reorging. It really depends on which org you're in. Don't think of Microsoft as a giant that moves as one unit. it has many arms and you need to research the arm you want to work on.
I move teams or the organization moves around me about every 12-18 months. This is not exactly what you asked, but the environment does change. I have never seen any type of job rotation program in place at Microsoft.
The biggest shifts would normally occur between product cycles.
How would you compare interviewing at Microsoft to other places you've interviewed?
Thanks for the update on the status of my order I have been working on my own but I don't know what to say about it and I think depends how much you want to spend
For me, it was much easier than most. In today's world a candidate could be scheduled to talk with 1-20 people in interviews. It's kind of a popularity contest, they are looking for "their kind" of people. Microsoft was looking for the right candidate for the job, they sort out the personalities later.
From hardest to easiest: Google > Facebook > Microsoft > Amazon
What's the company culture like at Microsoft?
Collaborative mostly. There are different subcultures within different orgs.
Very laid back and comfortable, this will likely vary depending on where you are working.
Mostly toxic
What unique perks and benefits does Microsoft provide?
Gym membership
Free water, soda, and coffee.
stock options, very good health insurance, employee-related benefits ( store reductions, free beverages at the office, counseling for employees and family, ...)
How's the work pace at Microsoft?
Comfortable...work at your own pace.
Depends on the team
Depends on the org and delivery and project. I've heard of it being very intense, and I've also seen it be very easy
How can I improve my chances of being hired at Microsoft?
Be yourself, be polite, well mannered and come with a great attitude, ready to work and ready to have fun.
Work on your storytelling skills and practice data structures and algorithms questions
Make connections with existing employees. Prepare for behavioral questions during interview. Study up on the Microsoft stack and especially Azure and O365.
What's the Engineering team like at Microsoft?
Microsoft is more heterogeneous than places like Google. It's larger and has a wider range of revenue generating projects. Each of those can have very different characteristics in terms of work-life balance, culture, how rewards are distributed etc. That said, teams within MS generally have very intelligent, dedicated employees who are passionate about solving tough problems.
Open, honest, creative, hard-working, customer-focused, polite, engaged.
Depends on the product / team milage varies widely
How much diversity is there among employees at Microsoft?
Chinese and Indians are very diverse between each other. There are white skinned and dark skinned Chinese people.
extreme. hiring and advancement quotas rule all decisions
A lot
How's the feedback proccess at Microsoft?
It highly depends on the team.
too process driven, to the point where it is not taken seriously
HR likes to think they have a really good feedback process, but it is really not very good at all. People with good managers get good feedback and the majority who have mediocre managers who do not know how to provide feedback or mentor their staff. Many are also retaliatory in the peer feedback. If you try to give someone constructive feedback, they take it as an attack and will retaliate.
What are your coworkers at Microsoft like?
some of them have a narrow/fixed mindset. they care what makes their stuff work but don't really care about the experience for the customers. I feel like deep down they don't share this company's values.
Some are good some are average some are bad.
Some are very awesome, others are here to move up the company ladder. Microsoft is not always interested in customers, which is sad.
What is the dress code at Microsoft?
At Redmond, mostly casual, only executives and sales dress up.
People usually adopt the norms of their group. You can be pretty damn casual. I recommend following the lead of your manager or skip level, because no matter what people say there is always a degree of unconscious bias at play.
Onsite, anything goes within common sense, offsite it depends on where you are taking your teams.
What does the ideal candidate in the Engineering department look like at Microsoft?
Disheveled and devoid of actual experience.
It's highly dependent on specific role and level. An entry level position requires a completely different candidate than a late-career position. That said, a candidate with a history of significant technical contributions either in their university (for entry level candidates) or in their work experience is attractive. Being able to discuss these at either a high or deep technical level is required. An ability to think on the fly and solve technical/design problems on the whiteboard is very useful.
5+ years of experience developing software using languages like C, C++, C#, TypeScript, etc. Basically, the languages that Visual Studio has builtin compilers for; a willingness to work directly with customers; and empathy towards fellow coworkers, customers, and people in general.
What questions do they ask during the interview process at Microsoft?
Do you want me too come over and watch a movie or something
Tell me about yourself... Have you ever been in a position where you have an angry customer yelling at you... Have you had any sales experience,
Standart data structures and algorithms questions. Make sure you know time and space complexities and pros and cons of using different data structures.
How secure do you feel at your job at Microsoft?
not very secure at all. the 5% good attrition target is on everyone's mind
Security is not guaranteed anywhere and it is not guaranteed at Microsoft.
Pretty secure.
How long do the interviews usually take at Microsoft?
30 min to 2 hrs depending....
one hour per person
5 hours
Curious about what work's like at Microsoft?
Anonymously Ask Microsoft Employees Any Question
Should I work at Microsoft?
54% of Microsoft employees would encourage their friends to become coworkers, whereas 25% are neutral and 21% would not recommend working at Microsoft to their friends.
| 54% | Promoters |
|---|---|
| 25% | Passive |
| 21% | Detractors |
Recently Asked Questions about working at Microsoft
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- How are the career growth opportunities on the Executive team at Microsoft?
- How does Microsoft measure success and growth in the Executive department?
- How common is it to switch departments or teams at Microsoft?
- What is Microsoft's internship program like?
