More Reaction from Microsoft

I’ve heard from several of my friends at Microsoft (and yes, I do have some…), that Microsoft is not such a terrible place to work, but nobody puts it better than Mike Byron:

“Huh. Ran into your Web page about Microsoft. I gotta comment on one thing I saw there:

‘Over the years I’ve been collecting interview questions from Microsoft. I guess I started this hobby with the intent of working there some day, but now that I have a wife and two kids, that’s pretty much out of the question.’

“Baloney. I’ve been working at Microsoft for almost 5 years. I have a wife and twin 7-year-olds. I have an active church life. I work around 40-45 hours per week, and have for the whole time. I have a GREAT time at Microsoft. I’m a veteran of Silicon Valley. Been creating mostly systems software since 1977. Microsoft is no different from most Silicon Valley companies –better hours than most startups, more driven than HP. I do work an occasional 50-55 hour week close to ship time.

“Now, there are people that work here with completely different stories. But I am in no wise unique. I have lots of friends in basically the same position — 40 hour weeks.”

Thanks for the quote, Mike. I’ll try not to get you into “trouble…”