Microsoft Principal Software Development Engineer reviews

3.8

72% would recommend to a friend

(406 total reviews)
avatar

Satya Nadella

80% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Principal Software Development Engineer employees have rated Microsoft with 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 406 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Principal Software Development Engineer professionals have a good working experience there. Microsoft is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Principal Software Development Engineer professionals compared to other employers within the Informationstechnologie industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

406 reviews
2.0
Jul 21, 2012

Wolf in Sheep's clothing !

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some great fringe perks , decent package (not the best). Offices are very well equipped. Some great people to work with.

Cons

Management sucks ! Driven by the numbers game, people are secondary despite what management say. Enjoy the good times because one day you'll be at the bottom of the stack - review process stack ranks people and one year you'll have a bad year and its difficult to recover - better to leave. Its a pyramid and you're expected to keep moving on and up or you just fall off. The review system does not cater for solid consistent performers, you must keep on improving - management is so weak that it has to keep applying the same dumb system. Its also difficult to move around the company unless you near the top as they won't invest (take a risk) in you having to learn different skills. You can't get old and grey here - young and grey yes. If you're young and a bit idealistic (sorry guys!) then its the place for you, if you a hard nosed, sod the rest of you sort of person it will also work well. However, if you're incredibily old - say over 40!! , just want to do a solid job, consistently performing, then no way - you're deadwood as far MS is concerned. And its very Redmond centric. I could go on and on and on ! In summary - Its lean mean money making machine ! its a business - don't forget that.

4.0
Jul 17, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- ability to make a huge impact in the industry - great work/life balance - large diversity of teams to choose from - creative environment, yet results centric - great people! - culture of creativity and lots of constructive self-criticism (despite of what you might read on the web)

Cons

- Compared with more "nimble" companies, things get done at a slower pace, sometime much slower. Three year shipping cycles are not uncommon although this started lately to change - takes time for junior employees to grow up in level and make a larger impact (depends on the group though) - career-centric company, although you could find a group that behaves like a startup - certain teams dedicated on maintaining software, not shipping new stuff (which might be OK for some). Be careful which team you choose. - I feel (and many others do) that the company doesn't learn fast enough from big mistakes made by middle-management.

Viewing 397 - 399 of 406 Reviews

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