Microsoft Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) reviews

3.8

98% would recommend to a friend

(686 total reviews)
avatar

Satya Nadella

90% approve of CEO

86% positive business outlook

Software Development Engineer In Test SDET employees have rated Microsoft with 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 686 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Development Engineer In Test SDET professionals have a good working experience there. Microsoft is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Development Engineer In Test SDET professionals compared to other employers within the Informationstechnologie industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

686 reviews
5.0
May 25, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Reasonable work hours ("crunch" weeks are far and few between), excellent benefits (all-inclusive - no copayments even required), regional pay adjustments for cost-of-living differences (Bay Area pay was 15% higher than "standard" salaries for comparable job levels when I first joined). I've also had very good experiences with being rewarded for doing good work, in the form of stock awards, cash bonuses, and time off. Products being developed are very diverse, so there's a great opportunity to move between different technologies, markets, and even project scales (hundred-man projects down to teams of just a handful of people). The company is very stable (having been around a while).

Cons

Big company mentality - it often feels like there isn't much innovation going on, and sometimes it seems like the cards are stacked against trying to do something too new or creative. It's also a bit frustrating at times to be under the restraints of all of the antitrust suits which have been going on - cross product integration is very tightly examined to ensure there will be no legal ramnifications, down to one case where a partner team couldn't explain the format of data they were consuming to our team, because doing so would require them to document/explain it to the general public.

4.0
May 18, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Awesome benfits, Great atmosphere to excel, chance to work on some exciting projects, and working with highly talented individuals is what makes Microsoft, one of the best places to work. Also to stress on the benefits, no other company can top MS on the benefits they provide for employees. The SW discount on MS products, prime card for restaurant reservations, free bus pass, free drinks and awesome food in the cafteria. The management are cool and never too demanding or stressful and help you with everything related to work and unrelated to work!

Cons

Lot of experienced people already working, and hence career growth may not be as fast in some other smaller companies

5.0
May 7, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There just is not other company like this in the world. You have the ability to do truly global, groundbreaking development work that will be deployed by thousands or millions of customers and make their daily life better or different. Also, the internal atmosphere in Microsoft Redmond is just incredible. You have the best of the best working with you, the atmosphere is relaxed, you do things and influence people based on what you know (not your title or who you know), information is shared liberally and you are part of an incredible team. However, there is no bitter fighting or competition amongst the peers, so I don't know what else to ask for. The environment is also very international and diverse, so you get to see how people around the world think. Very productive environment where you are pushed to do your very best and rewarded for it accordingly.

Cons

Opportunities for remote work are slim for SDEs and SDETs. Almost all of the product development happens in Redmond and if you can't live there, you're out of it (if you want to know why I no longer work at MS, this is the reason: I had to move out of the country for family reasons and did not find a way to continue my work with product teams and did not want to go back to the field). Also, you need to be a person that can manage your own time -- if you don't, you will get exhausted and be overworked. However, if you can manage that, you will be fine with 40-45 hour weeks in reasonable pressure. From what I have heard, teams can vary very much and (like in any large org) if you land under a poor manager, you are in trouble. Also, the MS field organization is a very different place and anything I say here does not apply for any of the subsidiaries (had some bad experience there)

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