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What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

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Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#121

Post by screye »

syntaxing wrote: post #29

I always thought Microsoft was one of the tech companies with the best work life balance. Is this not the case? Is it because of the gender disparity/sexism? Can any share some insight how it's to work for MS in Mountain View? Is it a bad idea for someone starting a family?

Yep. This sounds so different from all of my peers at Microsoft.

Across the board, the common thread among everyone I know at bigN, is how mundane it can feel.

I am joining MS next month, so I guess I will find out in time.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#122

Post by KingMachiavelli »

rgoulter wrote: post #118
KingMachiavelli wrote: post #111

> One of the first things I noticed is that almost everyone working for Microsoft had this perfect life???a spouse, kids, nice houses, good cars. I'm continually surprised how often this kind of life is considered 'perfect'. Every item in this list adds more liability and commitment to your life which is something very few 20-somethings (including myself) have enough experience with to handle it let alone know it's w…

> You only have to remember that FAAMNGS are committed to their shareholders By committing only to shareholders, they miss out on other stakeholders: employees, suppliers, customers, community. (Jonathan Haidt discusses at 18:50 onwards in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu_8yoqZoQ When the company emphasises only shareholders, they miss out on building cooperative relationships with the other stakeholde…

I say that meaning their fiduciary responsibility is to their shareholders. Their other stakeholders are by nature secondary. I'll have to check that video out but unless the shareholders themselves vote to prioritize employees and others above profit, the company and, more directly, upper management risks lawsuits and loosing their own lucrative positions.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#123

Post by oneepic »

Wow, seems like most of the comments here are just blaming the author, trying to find all the flaws with her story, or dropping truth bombs about big companies and jobs in our society ("coworkers aren't your friends", etc). I still think it was a worthwhile read for me, since I'm about to start working at MS next month. Good to be aware of stuff so I can keep an eye out for it, and try to make things better.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#124

Post by CydeWeys »

airnomad wrote: post #55
ljiljana wrote: post #15

> A few guys working both for Microsoft and Partners were treating me like a cute puppy or telling me they wanted to have sex with me while drunk, but all of it seemed minor and acceptable — I was getting so much in return. jesus, how is this minor and acceptable? i'm a woman in engineering and I can not even imagine having to deal with something like this. Is it that Marketing is that much different? Or am I just lu…

I'm not sure what is so wrong with politely telling someone that you want to have sex with her or him. I mean I want many things but that doesn't mean I'll get them.

It's not appropriate at work, full stop. HR will have to discipline if not fire you in order to limit their legal liability for this. They will certainly have to fire you if you continue doing it after being asked to stop. They could be on the hooks for a lot of money in a nearly-guaranteed workplace harassment lawsuit if they allow you to persist.

And anyway, if your intent is actually to get laid, then randomly asking people in professional environments is the worst way to do so. It's not even a good tactic in nightclubs, let alone in the workplace. So you're not actually accomplishing your intended goal; you're just harassing your female colleagues.

Good god man, ask people out for drinks first, don't just jump immediately to asking for sex! Did no one teach you how dating or hook-ups work?!

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#125

Post by bsder »

throwaway713 wrote: post #105

Reading articles like this always makes me wonder where all this crazy drama is going on. I work at one of FAANG, and I go in each day, code/analyze things from 8-5, chat with some people about their cycling or cooking hobbies, then go home. If people are having affairs and flying to resorts, then I'm just totally oblivious to it. Either that, or I'm the most boring 28 year old that works there.

> Either that, or I'm the most boring 28 year old that works there.

You are, presumably, male and doing technical tasks.

It's much easier to get into drama when you are a 1) young female, whom lots of people want to interact with, hired to do 2) marketing, where your job is to be extremely social with semi-strangers.

This is simply the way of the world.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#126

Post by hackerbob »

maximus1983 wrote: post #16

This sounds like I was like about 10 years ago. Wrapped up in a company. I don't do "work friends" anymore.

Yes, this was one of the things I learned in Big Co after a few years. You end up realizing most work relationships (not all) are what I now call "proximity kindness".

Think two people walking into an elevator together.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#127

Post by wanderer2323 »

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #111

> One of the first things I noticed is that almost everyone working for Microsoft had this perfect life???a spouse, kids, nice houses, good cars. I'm continually surprised how often this kind of life is considered 'perfect'. Every item in this list adds more liability and commitment to your life which is something very few 20-somethings (including myself) have enough experience with to handle it let alone know it's w…

>> Huge campus, nice cafeterias, woods, a pond, overwhelming space. Everything seemed great....

>Ugh, this trend to make work environments indistinguishable from a university campus is just >the latest trend to warm up new employees until their fully committed to the boiling sewage >that is a life that is all work and ass kissing.

Every feature that you are complaining about happens naturally when you have as many employees as MS has in Redmond. It has nothing to do with malicious agents planning to boil employees alive in ass kissing.

Well, maybe not the pond. Clearly THAT is the infernal device of campusness that entrances the innocents.

Disclosure: walked to that pond from time to time during lunch when I was working in the area, probab ly already brainwashed.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#128

Post by Uptrenda »

There is definitely a lot of cautionary tales here. I especially relate to the working 24/7 part ;). You'll see the same problem with offers that require you to go to other countries to work. If you're a young person you'll probably think its an amazing opportunity and want to go straight away. But the reality is from the moment you touch down, to the moment you leave, the company basically owns you.

If you think separating work and life is hard now try doing it when a company is directly paying for the place you go to sleep. No space or time will really be "yours" in any sense. They'll virtually know where you are at all times and be paying for you to be there. Hence, its strongly implied you live and breathe for the company.

Btw, I'm not saying people shouldn't do this. It can honestly be a really fun and motivating environment. But the trade-offs are something to keep in mind when accepting offers that seem too good to be true. I've found that constantly traveling and spending all your time working is super unproductive for me. All it leads to is burn-out and I usually end up doing far more when I'm happy, healthy, and in control of my own life.

Remote positions are god-tier for this. It's hard to beat being able to lie in bed writing code for something you love. I'll take that over other perks any day. Also, side note. It's always depressing reading about the sexism that women have to face in tech. If you're a women dealing with this at the moment I hope you continue to flourish and don't let stupid remarks get to you. Not everybody acts like this

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#129

Post by matz1 »

ljiljana wrote: post #15

> A few guys working both for Microsoft and Partners were treating me like a cute puppy or telling me they wanted to have sex with me while drunk, but all of it seemed minor and acceptable — I was getting so much in return. jesus, how is this minor and acceptable? i'm a woman in engineering and I can not even imagine having to deal with something like this. Is it that Marketing is that much different? Or am I just lu…

Use it to your advantage, use your sexuality as your weapon.

Re: What I gained, lost and learned while working for Microsoft

#130

Post by ido »

oneepic wrote: post #123

Wow, seems like most of the comments here are just blaming the author, trying to find all the flaws with her story, or dropping truth bombs about big companies and jobs in our society ("coworkers aren't your friends", etc). I still think it was a worthwhile read for me, since I'm about to start working at MS next month. Good to be aware of stuff so I can keep an eye out for it, and try to make things better.

I agree that it's good to be aware of & I enjoyed the read. But honestly it would have "prepared" you just as well if you were starting at amazon or google - there was nothing MS specific about the experience.
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