tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post115622279213581974..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Looking Forward - Reviews, The Company Meeting, and Then Some...Who da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger307125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-91622962639668693232007-04-26T19:43:00.000-07:002007-04-26T19:43:00.000-07:00You can find excellent reviews of various companie...You can find excellent reviews of various companies on this site:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.pissedconsumer.com/reviews-by-company.html" REL="nofollow" TITLE="Company reviews and reports">Company reviews and reports</A><BR/><BR/>or check out home page for more reviews:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.pissedconsumer.com" REL="nofollow" TITLE="Consumer Reviews and reports">Consumer Reviews and Reports</A><BR/><BR/>Regards,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1160123674100312202006-10-06T01:34:00.000-07:002006-10-06T01:34:00.000-07:00Level: 60Position Name: SDET Org: WindowsMonths in...Level: 60<BR/>Position Name: SDET <BR/>Org: Windows<BR/>Months in Position: 2 years<BR/>Years at MS: 7<BR/>Last Promo Date: Mid Year Review<BR/>Commitment Rating: Exceeded<BR/>Contrib. Rating: Strong<BR/>Merit %: 5<BR/>Promotion %: 0<BR/>Bonus %: 12<BR/>Stock Count: 225 (112%)<BR/><BR/>My team lost two testers during the vista test cycle and I picked up all the extra work, which included writing all the automation for my components + the extra components I picked up. I filled nearly 400 ad hoc type bugs which covered almost every corner of the OS, I achieved an above average fix rate (I usually do)<BR/>On top of that I also own testing a non windows consumer product that gets released thru OEM channels… the way I see it, this year I carried a workload of 4 testers. I was expecting a 15 – 20% bonus… and a significant salary increase. I make between 75 - 80K a year. <BR/><BR/>This is the first year at MS where I came out of the review disappointed by the #’s<BR/>Am I getting what I deserve?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1160088497177048532006-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:002006-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:00----Has anyone out there received the "underperfor...----<BR/>Has anyone out there received the "underperformed" commitment rating?<BR/><BR/>In my experience, this year most folks ended up in either the acheived or exceeded buckets, and I'm wondering if that's company-wide.<BR/>----<BR/><BR/><BR/>Yes, I can unfortunetly attest to this.<BR/><BR/>Level: 62<BR/>Postition: SDET Lead<BR/>Months in position: 24<BR/>Years at MSFT: 7+<BR/>Last promo: last year<BR/>Rating: Underachieved<BR/>Merit: 0%<BR/>Promo: 0%<BR/>Bonus 0%<BR/>Stock: Very Little<BR/>Commitment: Strong<BR/>Assesment: Mixed<BR/><BR/>The funny thing is that, except for one review which was a 3.5, I have had nothing but 4.0 reviews up to this point. Last year I got a promo and a gold star award. Now I ask myself... is this all me or could it be my managment, which of the 4 directs last year has 1 left plus a bunch of newbies (I was demoted to IC as well).<BR/><BR/>I beat myself up very hard.. and I'm still feeling crushed, disinterested, and apathetic to my work (which I hate). But trying to be objective,it really seems like I got screwed and the problem isn't in me. Needless to say, I'm looking to get out of this group. I hope I can find a good spot within MS... we shall see.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1159223014267723922006-09-25T15:23:00.000-07:002006-09-25T15:23:00.000-07:00Position Name: Anon as it would give me away....Wi...<I>Position Name: Anon as it would give me away.<BR/>...<BR/>With my past review history I am waiting for them to justify this rating after they read my 4 page response.</I><BR/><BR/>Oh, I'm sure that won't give you away at all. I'm sure they get tons of 4 page response letters. ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158798224938052592006-09-20T17:23:00.000-07:002006-09-20T17:23:00.000-07:00"WHY ARE YOU STAYING HERE?!!"Whoa there little hor..."WHY ARE YOU STAYING HERE?!!"<BR/><BR/>Whoa there little horsey. I think I can answer this for a lot of Microsofties. We like working here, we do a great job and believe it or not, we like the company. We could do great things together. Unfortunately we don't have the leadership and don't get much motivation when the company introduce a pathetic rewards system for its core staff. I for one will stick in out to prove a point and hopefully see a change in this company whereby we cut some staff and build an internal organisation that appreciates the hard working staff in the lower levels.<BR/>Don't get me wrong, Microsoft has its fair share of idiots, I think they are called SUPER idiots internally. The problem is that many reap the rewards when their staff get the run-around about how Microsoft thinks they are great but the budget restraints mean you only get a miserly 3% merit and 5% bonus.<BR/>Come on Microsoft, Bill, Steve, illustrious partners. Share the wealth and give your employees what they deserve.<BR/>BTW: Lisa, try and get your HR teams to build a system that compensates the teams fairly across the regions. It would be nice to receive a Merit that actually matches the rate of inflation in the countries where we do business (even if you calculate in the gamble that is the Stock Awards, Microsoft fall short of meeting generally accepted standards).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158383898455285332006-09-15T22:18:00.000-07:002006-09-15T22:18:00.000-07:00Geez, some of you guys are so spineless and risk a...Geez, some of you guys are so spineless and risk averse, it makes me puke. 0% increases. 2% increases. No stock. Performance memos. WHY ARE YOU STAYING HERE?!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158289218081969642006-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:002006-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:00Level: 60Position Name: SDETOrg: (PG, Ops, SG): PG...Level: 60<BR/>Position Name: SDET<BR/>Org: (PG, Ops, SG): PG<BR/>Months in Position: 4 years<BR/>Years at MS: 6+<BR/>Last Promo Date: 2003 <BR/>Rating: Achieved<BR/>Merit %: 3.0<BR/>Promotion %: 0%<BR/>Bonus %: 7%<BR/>Stock Count:100<BR/><BR/>Disappointed and demoralized, how come they forgot me when they hand out dough and turn to me when anything urgent needs to be done, like during Christmas time, whatever time when others are not 'available', and they are very appreciative then, why not show some appreciation at review time? And why is visibility so overrated? isn't it a good thing just to bear down and do your work? why is it that people who are more visible but not really doing more work (most of the time less work) get more than those who do? I think there's something wrong somewhere...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158281531675504872006-09-14T17:52:00.000-07:002006-09-14T17:52:00.000-07:00Position Name: Anon as it would give me away.Org: ...Position Name: Anon as it would give me away.<BR/>Org: WLO<BR/>Months in Position: More that 12 and less than 26 (that's enough range to make it impossible to work out who I am)<BR/>Years at MS: More than you would believe.<BR/>Last Promo Date: Again cannot specify but in the old HR world I should be promoted now.<BR/>Rating: Achieved<BR/>Merit %:3<BR/>Promotion %: Not on your life.<BR/>Bonus %:3<BR/>Stock Count:350 (75% less than last year)<BR/>Assessment: Worse than Expected.<BR/><BR/>This was such a shock to me that I am not going to sign the document on http://evil. With my past review history I am waiting for them to justify this rating after they read my 4 page response. My entire team had good reviews and this has been the best 12 months for me at Microsoft. <BR/><BR/>Let the battle commence and we will see who wins out in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158211150947740922006-09-13T22:19:00.000-07:002006-09-13T22:19:00.000-07:00windows core fundamentals is a shitty placewindows core fundamentals is a shitty placeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158168612636982012006-09-13T10:30:00.000-07:002006-09-13T10:30:00.000-07:00Has anyone out there received the "underperformed"...<I>Has anyone out there received the "underperformed" commitment rating?</I><BR/><BR/>Yes.<BR/><BR/>Group: Windows Core Fundamentals<BR/><BR/>Underperformed, limited, 0%, 0%, 0 shares. Performance memo.<BR/><BR/>The warning signs were there, but it's still a shock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158105770931397722006-09-12T17:02:00.000-07:002006-09-12T17:02:00.000-07:00Since the majority of posts seem to be from the bi...Since the majority of posts seem to be from the bitter veterans, thought I might chip in some newbie perspective.<BR/>All the “been there done that” folks that have posting in this thread are not that great.<BR/>Some of them might be genuine victims but definitely by no means all.<BR/><BR/>I am a fresh Ivy League college grad that joined a windows server group last year. I worked really hard and got a decent review this year. Numbers pretty much the same as others posted here. <BR/>I have a 10 year veteran in my org who acts like a “been there done that” dev but in reality I think he is overpaid and under qualified. At his level one would expect a certain class, team spirit and quality in his design and code that I simply do not see. He was a self designated superdev who built the basic base protocol upon which all other features of the team are built. But the basic framework that he designed is completely inconsistent, horribly designed, completely undocumented piece of crap. Entry level devs have better code writing and design skills than this obnoxious snob.<BR/>On top of it this so called veteran left the group right in the middle of the Vista ship cycle (but of course conveniently after the review cycle of last year) for an outside dream job which he boasted about shamelessly in every team meeting. Then 6 months later he appears back in the same group telling the dream job did not work out.<BR/>All the managers treated his re-arrival as the second coming of Christ and scrambled to get him a brand new laptop, a corner office and all the bells and whistles despite the fact that he had spit on everyone’s face just recently and left leaving all the other devs to struggle to meet the deadlines.<BR/>This con artist no doubt made thousands in this “transaction” and on top if it picked up a habit of criticizing every line of code that was written in his absence by other devs who scrambled to make up for his departure despite the fact that a lot of new code written after he left fixed most of problems in his original code.<BR/><BR/>Do we need obnoxious con artists like this in the company just because they have been here for 10 years? Shouldn’t they be constantly evaluated on the basis of their skill set, leadership skills and ability to improve their own knowledge base? Isn’t it better for new blood to come in and weed out this overpaid disloyal group?<BR/><BR/>I hope the critical posts here do not turn the tables to such an extent that the “been there” type people are automatically treated as gods who need to have a certain piece of meat dedicated to them come every September irrespective of how much loyalty or talent they really have.<BR/><BR/>Microsoft should start the concept of demoting. If some one is here for 10 years as an IC without being able to pull his weight he should be demoted every year until he performs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1158035901411887282006-09-11T21:38:00.000-07:002006-09-11T21:38:00.000-07:00"Will work for 4.1% COLA or higher"To really make ...<B>"Will work for 4.1% COLA or higher"</B><BR/><BR/>To really make the point, you'd need to put on the back:<BR/><BR/><B>COLA is part of a Registered TradeMark of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, etc</B>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157874554200629802006-09-10T00:49:00.000-07:002006-09-10T00:49:00.000-07:00L59 peon too new to be reviewed. After hearing ab...L59 peon too new to be reviewed. After hearing about MS culture and interviewing almost immediately after, I dropped my grad school plans and threw my life into a direction I never expected. I go in excited every morning, and can't bear to call it 'work.' The environment and opportunities are amazing.<BR/><BR/>The day MS unionizes is the day I'm out of here, probably to grad school and investigating creating a startup in my spare time. I thought the purpose of this blog wasn't to plunge the company into mediocre conformity, but to remove the bloat and make MS once again the efficient, opportunistic place we all came here for.<BR/><BR/>All this talk of unionization and complaining about the salaries of our most productive leaders is saddening, to say the least.<BR/><BR/>Microsoft takes in almost $40B in a year, with over $12B in profit. Exxon makes almost triple that in profit, but requires $359B in revenue to do it. The profit margin is just plain amazing for the company's size, and that doesn't come from bad leadership. Sure there are surely some execs who are getting more than they deserve, but the numbers don't lie. The company is doing something right! (numbers from http://montecitojournal.net/archive/12/14/200/)<BR/><BR/>I haven't been disenchanted by the review process, so I'll have to see for myself next year. I am hoping MS really is the visionary place I see it to be, though, and as long as I don't get an unexpectedly bad review next year I'll stay motivated, stay at MS, and keep on track to doing as well as I am able to.<BR/><BR/>A few of the comments above, from people getting good reviews after a year of hard work, are inspiring. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157830046328672252006-09-09T12:27:00.000-07:002006-09-09T12:27:00.000-07:00L62 SDETAchieved, Strong3% Merit, 9% bonus, 700 sh...L62 SDET<BR/>Achieved, Strong<BR/>3% Merit, 9% bonus, 700 shares<BR/>Slightly better than expectedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157829881314591312006-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:002006-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00L64 Dev ManagerAchieved, Strong4% Merit, 10% Bonus...L64 Dev Manager<BR/>Achieved, Strong<BR/>4% Merit, 10% Bonus, 1100 stock<BR/>Right around what I expectedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157821928238424362006-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:002006-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:00Level: 60Position Name: SDEOrg: WindowsMonths in P...Level: 60<BR/>Position Name: SDE<BR/>Org: Windows<BR/>Months in Position: 2 years<BR/>Years at MS: 3<BR/>Last Promo Date: Jan 2006<BR/>Commitment Rating: EXceeded<BR/>Contri Rating: strong<BR/>Merit %: 4<BR/>Promotion %: n/a<BR/>Bonus %: 12%<BR/>Stock Count: 200 (100%)<BR/><BR/>"PATHETIC, PATHETIC, PATHETIC"<BR/>Explanation for almost non-existant pay raise- This is what happens when everyone performs well. I know everyone thinks they work hard, but I really can't justify all the stress and pain I went through the last year for a 4% hike. Who are they kidding?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157764985919213942006-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:002006-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:00Group Dev Manager at MS (70 person org, 3 direct-r...Group Dev Manager at MS (70 person org, 3 direct-reporting Dev Managers) -> Director at Peoplesoft -> Sr Director at Orcl via acquisition -> promoted to GM last month<BR/><BR/>I am sure the Oracle bashing will commence in short order, but is it what it is. Recieved a very nice 'incentive' during the acquisition that more than eliminated the real estate and COL price differentials between CA (pleasanton) and Redmond.<BR/><BR/>Just leave. There are other things out there. Better things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157738361199798602006-09-08T10:59:00.000-07:002006-09-08T10:59:00.000-07:00"Sure, there's some negative things that come alon..."Sure, there's some negative things that come along with unions."<BR/><BR/>Understatement of the year. Is your problem that the ship isn't sinking fast enough? And how do you think you get to mini-Microsoft with a union?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157643720822779842006-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:002006-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00Ex-MSFT, left 2 years ago and now makes 2.2x the s...<I>Ex-MSFT, left 2 years ago and now makes 2.2x the salary (with only 75% of the stress) at a competitor</I><BR/><BR/>Please tell us the competitor's name.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157630386313504672006-09-07T04:59:00.000-07:002006-09-07T04:59:00.000-07:00All you guys/gals should stop complaining. It has ...All you guys/gals should stop complaining. It has really taken some of you <I>years</I> to figure out that your salary increases are not keeping up with increases in the cost of living? Hell, there are some numbers in this thread that make it look like some of you are getting merit increases that don't even keep up with the rate of inflation!!<BR/><BR/>But you all should sit tight. Take it, and like it. <BR/><BR/>Face it, 99% of you will be here again next year (perhaps even posting the same gripes on the same blog). You love it. You love being abused and taken advantage of. You are all afraid to take risks, and explore the world outside of MS. You are excited by the prospect of having less purchasing power next year compared to this year.<BR/><BR/>Bunch of masochists. Some of us out here have <B>no pity</B>.<BR/><BR/>Signed,<BR/>Ex-MSFT, left 2 years ago and now makes 2.2x the salary (with only 75% of the stress) at a competitor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157606424564083632006-09-06T22:20:00.000-07:002006-09-06T22:20:00.000-07:00Level: 62Merit %: 6Promotion %: 0%Bonus %: 11%Stoc...Level: 62<BR/>Merit %: 6<BR/>Promotion %: 0%<BR/>Bonus %: 11%<BR/>Stock Count: 600 sharesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157580786659675112006-09-06T15:13:00.000-07:002006-09-06T15:13:00.000-07:00From my review today:Level: 62Position Name: PMOrg...From my review today:<BR/><BR/>Level: 62<BR/>Position Name: PM<BR/>Org: (PG, Ops, SG): PG<BR/>Months in Position: 10 months<BR/>Years at MS: 6+<BR/>Last Promo Date: Today (previous was last review cycle)<BR/>Rating: Exceeded<BR/>Contribution: Strong<BR/>Merit %: 6.0<BR/>Promotion %: 7.0%<BR/>Bonus %: 15%<BR/>Stock Count: 130% / 780 shares<BR/>Assessment: As hoped - my manager had been dropping some hints that I was doing well and we did a walkthrough of my CSP ratings a few months agoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157527452604570422006-09-06T00:24:00.000-07:002006-09-06T00:24:00.000-07:00Dear mini,I'm using Vista RC1. I can add comments...Dear mini,<BR/><BR/>I'm using Vista RC1. I can add comments to this thread, but I'm unable to even view the comments in "Kicking the SPSA Can Again".<BR/><BR/>Please file a must-fix but for this.<BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/>Your friends in the Windows teamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157512703579318912006-09-05T20:18:00.000-07:002006-09-05T20:18:00.000-07:00SPSA is no different from your stock grant if you ...SPSA is no different from your stock grant if you are not an L68. The size of the stock grant for L68 may be higher but that's about it. The vesting only begins after 3 years and ends after 5 years.<BR/>This means that the first payout of a non spsa grant is 1/5 of the full grant. The first payout of an SPSA grant is 1/3 of the grant. The fourth and fifth vesting have 1/3 each.<BR/>There was a real risk of the grant being 33% of what was awarded based on cust sat scores.<BR/>There is no mystery or anything special about these L68 folks. The only differences is that the compensation is tightly corelated to business metrics (confidential because these metrics are important to the strategy of the business).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1157505242054887552006-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:002006-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:00Sure, there's some negative things that come along...Sure, there's some negative things that come along with unions. If management is actually trying to steer the company in the right direction and is taking care of there employees, they're probably not needed.<BR/><BR/>But what's going on at MSFT is management and executives shitting on their employees and giving themselves lots of money. Nothing more - "MSFT has a lot of cash, and we're going to give it to ourselves and the rest of you can go to hell."<BR/><BR/>If that doesn't call for the workers to band together and give the finger back to management, what does?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com