Good, bad and ugly - it is all here! - Technical Accounts Manager Microsoft Employee Review

4.0
Sep 9, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. It is an empowering organisation to work for where you are not 'managed' and you can choose your professional growth path - including training courses. 2. Knowledge is shared very openly and can flood you, there is a wealth of information available at hand and thrown your way constantly. 3. The fact that you work for Microsoft opens all kinds of doors when you work there, with clients etc and when you leave, the fact that you worked for Microsoft also opens a lot of doors!

Cons

1. The company still doesn't have a clue about some basics - one, that size counts when you are selling something as you can jostle competitors out of the way, but when it comes to delivering, that same size and global way of delivering does not work. I had so many complaints about service being provided to my customers from offshore locations in Eastern Europe (strangely not so many from India). 2. The company is seen to be aggressive due to its sales guys who are for the most part (more than half) pushy and wining-dining kind of guys with not a clue about technology or delivery. 3. The salary Microsoft offers has got to be one of the lowest in its field and there is a huge gap when your grade gets in the 60's. Also the sales guys get immense commission and ride on the techies and service management people who don't (see above). 4. The employees from before 2000 who had proper stock options work and settle in the way millionaires do, they don't push themselves in their jobs, whereas the ones who came in afterwards slog and slog hard. It really is two worlds there. Stock options are as good as worthless in today's scenarios. 5. There is direction from the US but it doesn't apply to UK as much as the market and customer mentality is different - this is not recognised. 6. Everything is driven by the need to shift more software. 7. There is no direct management (it is a good and bad reason, see above) so for anyone who has worked anywhere else in their working life, it comes as a shock - you are to get on as if you were alone on an island. 8. The most coveted skilled people leave Microsoft and go to their clients as they pay more (who doesn't?) - this includes Microsoft technologies like Sharepoint and Biztalk - extremely frustrating when you are trying to deliver support to customers! 9. Bill Gates had come once in the last 8-10 years that my colleague had worked for Microsoft to address Microsoft UK - that kind of distance is very off-putting. It isn't difficult to rally employees if they feel closer to the structure at the top.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Microsoft Federal is a strong place to work if you want exposure to mission-driven customers and large-scale cloud, AI, security, and data transformation work. The federal business gives you the opportunity to work on meaningful problems that matter beyond traditional commercial outcomes, especially across national security, public safety, defense, and civilian agency missions. The brand carries a lot of credibility with customers, and Microsoft has a very broad technology portfolio, which gives employees the ability to bring real solutions to complex problems. There are also many smart, collaborative people across engineering, sales, customer success, partner teams, and leadership who genuinely want to help customers succeed. Compensation and benefits are strong, especially compared to many other federal technology roles. There is also flexibility in how you manage your work, and the company provides access to a deep internal network, learning resources, and career mobility if you are proactive. For people interested in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and government modernization, Microsoft Federal can be an exciting place to build experience and credibility.

Cons

The biggest challenge is organizational complexity. Microsoft is a very large company, and getting things done often requires navigating multiple internal teams, priorities, approval chains, and competing motions. This can slow down execution, even when the customer need is clear. Roles can sometimes feel overly matrixed, where accountability is shared across many groups but ownership is not always clear. Sellers and customer-facing teams may spend a significant amount of time coordinating internally instead of directly advancing customer outcomes. There can also be a gap between the pace of commercial innovation and what is actually available, accredited, or practical in federal environments. This is especially true in government cloud, AI, security, and regulated workloads. Employees often have to manage customer expectations carefully when product messaging moves faster than federal availability or implementation realities. Career growth can vary significantly depending on your manager, account alignment, internal visibility, and whether your work maps cleanly to leadership priorities. High performers can still feel stuck if their role is not positioned well within the broader organization.

4.0
Jan 28, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. If you love tech, this is a great place. No doubt you'll talk tech (mostly the MSFT stack) from enterprise to consumer - from PCs to phones to Xboxes - from datacenter to desktop. 2. What were GREAT benefits are now VERY GOOD (took a small step down) but still probably better than you'll find at 99% of large corporations. If you've got family - the value of the benefits is even higher. 401k match is nice. 3. Even with it's struggles MSFT is still a cash printing machine. This means if you can keep your nose clean and do reasonable work, you can have a stable job, pay your bills, feed your family, and not worry (too much) about layoffs. The stock you own likely won't tank, but probably won't go up much either. You'll get a bonus each year and some stock. It's a decent life if you aren't looking to light the world on fire.

Cons

Brand on Your Resume: After many years of losing market share and struggling to be at the front end of innovation and the fact that there's 90,000 employees, don't think MSFT is necessarily going to be attractive on your resume to more agile and smaller companies. Managing Your Career: Make you say this out loud so it registers - 90,000 employees work there. Double that for vendors. It is VERY hard to "stand out" and move up in the company. Don't expect your manager to be much of an advocate or enabler to help you meet your career goals - they are basically trying to survive the stack rank every year too. Not familiar with the stack rank? Check out the 2012 Vanity Fair article called "Microsoft's Lost Decade".

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