Pros
Work/Life balance cannot be beat at Microsoft. Yammer and all of the other Startups that claim you can take days off when you need it is of the upmost BS. Compensation, once again, was terrific once Microsoft came along. But I suspect that's because they were trying to assuage us poor little orphans that they had already planned to let go quite some time ago. Outsourced Institutional Training. I have no wisecracks about this one. Pretty formidable training here. Incredible Product. I'm not sure who exactly to give credit to for this save for the CEO David Sacks. He's an eccentric, weirdo who puts on white face with Snoop Dog. But hey, he's a genius so he gets away with it. Great, great product. One that I thought was literally the best after trying all other competitors' product. Lots and lots of booze, food, extracurricular activities and outlets. Benefits were more than fair and quite extravagant. Thanks Microsoft.
Cons
Yammer and all of the other laddish-infused tech startups that mirror it is a great place to work: If you have yet to graduate psychologically from high school. Harsh? Perhaps. Hyperbole? Sadly, for all of us who have to deal with the Yammer-like-ilk, no. For those in the know--or if you have a pulse and live in the Bay Area--it isn't a surprise to you that there is a great deal of animosity towards the tech companies. In their hubris-induced states (which is fueled by a perpetual, collective effort by all who work there and built on a foundation of willful ignorance) they cannot fathom why the tech world gets so much flak. Gee, it's such a mystery! They are so delusional in their pathology that it is no wonder they are blind to the ire they evoke. It's like they've all been infected with the 28-Days-Later-Dunning-Kruger virus. The vast majority have NO experience in consultative sales yet they prance around, foaming about the mouth, as if they are Ricky Roma incarnate. Fake it 'til you make it you say? Wrong. Not if you want intrinsic, nuanced, complex sales folk on your team. This of course led to insecurity, high-tension, uncertainty, unhealthy competitiveness and lack of team bonding to name a few. Don't even get me started on management. Good Gawd. Most were just as sophomoric or, if not that, nauseatingly pretentious. The great ones jumped ship of course. The reviewer below says it best..."In my entire career I've never been in an environment full of so much ego and pretentiousness." IMHO, if you start off with or reach the tipping point of this egotastic sub-culture you can kiss your sales-mojo goodbye. Don't believe me? Check out the reviews for just ONE company that many Yammer employees flocked to: Fuzebox. I gape at the floundering beast that is the nepotistic, startup world.