What is the Starting Salary at Microsoft?
Despite a flat economy in 2009, Microsoft continues to roll on as the dominant software developer and provider in the world. Even with the Vista operating system floundering and replaced by the newer Windows 7 platform, Microsoft's domination of the home computing market remains unchallenged. Additionally, its Xbox division went profitable in 2008, with sales exceeding the more established Sony in this market.
As a result, the Redmond, Washington, company persists as a good place to work.
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Significance
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Microsoft is one of the largest employers in the Seattle area and in Washington state as a whole. However, the company's importance is global, with jobs in dozens of countries around the world. This international footprint makes Microsoft a major absorber of talent from many disciplines, which in turn translates into more jobs in its native Redmond and surrounding areas--typically at around 42,000 employees, plus a large number of vendors and support workers.
Administrative Jobs
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Starting salaries for administrative assistants at Microsoft's Redmond HQ were at around $46,000 per year in 2009, with part-time and temp administrative staff compensated near $20 an hour. Business administrators can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 annually, while financial analysts get around $63,000.
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Software Personnel
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As a software company, this is the main focus for Microsoft and salaries are accordingly generous in comparison to market averages--software development interns earn around $5,300 per month, and software developers average $76,000 to start. Software engineers, a slightly more technical designation than "developers," get a bit more--close to $80,000.
Hourly rates for software engineers were in the $40 to $45 range, on a freelance or contractor basis.
Middle Management
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Project engineer positions returned an average of more than $88,000 per year, with more senior programmers getting just over $90,000. Since Microsoft products have gone entirely online in recent years, network and system engineers are hired higher up on the pay scale, earning about $95,000.
Hardware Jobs
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Peripherals and the Xbox constitute a huge portion of the company's product catalog, plus all software needs to have hardware testing and optimization done. This means people trained in hardware are crucial to Microsoft, and salaries are measured accordingly--hardware engineers get more than $100,000 per year, on average.
Managerial Roles
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Marketing managers generally get hired on salaries of around $110,000, as do communications managers and partner account managers. Senior solution and lead program managers get an average of $118,000, while group product managers can expect somewhere in the area of $125,000.
Marketing directors are scaled at $155,000 or so, and leading software architects are compensated to the tune of $183,000. General manager, a role loosely defined by the company as needed, is a title that comes with a salary of $186,000.
Considerations
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Microsoft is a relatively generous employer, with starting salaries above average in their respective categories. However, pay raises over time do not match those of other companies since Microsoft prefers stability over aggressive salary growth. The flip side of this is generous benefits, which include bonuses, retirement plans, travel allowances, meal expenses and more.
Keep in mind all the information in this article pertains to Microsoft positions in Washington state and the Seattle area. This part of the country is above average in terms of cost of living, which offsets some of the benefits of working for Microsoft there--housing is 45 percent more than the national average, for example.
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