Company: IBM
Date: 2015-03-04
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

IBM Design, not for designers
Pros: I can not think of any long term pros. The honey moon phase will be nice. You'll be wined and dined and promised the world but those are empty promises.
Cons: Low compensation based on the degree you were able to afford not talent, lack of direction in leadership, false promises to get you through the door, technology is of very low quality or mis represented to press and outside organizations and very young immature new hires. Feels like a college dorm room a lot of times. 

In the beginning you'll get a phone a call and you'll hear a lot about how IBM Design "will change the world". You'll work on projects "that will change the world". Unfortunately, this will not be the case. There is a lengthy 3 month processes called design camp. It is to prepare you for what is like to work at IBM, it is not. It is for those coming directly out of college who have 0 work experience but have somehow gotten through the hiring process and need some type of real world experience. 

This creates chaos amongst those who have 1-2+ years of experience coming to IBM. There are dedicated recruiters to help find the 1,000+ designers they plan to hire but they bring in the new hires (those are the college students) to also help. They are now judging, commenting and deciding the fates of potential candidates that they are clearly not qualified to do. Immature remarks and fear of working with individuals who are more skillful and qualified make it so great candidates are over looked and passed on. Lots of MFA candidates with no prior job experience just one degree obtained after another. 

You'll be promised the world and receive very little. When being deployed to your project your told by leadership that "hours, even days! went into the process". The process is bias, haphazard and is never explained to you in the least. Nothing about your skill set being a match or what the logic was behind it. If your lucky you'll work on Watson. Not because it's a good project but it makes it easier to speak about to others outside the company because of the press and name recognition. 80% of the designers in Austin are trying to maneuver their way to that team because they have 0 interest in their current project. 

The Watson tech is weak and not artificial intelligence as it is often described. It does have some advantages and in some ways could be very powerful but there is no magic behind it, not a super computer there are no such things as super computers. Leadership running Watson is weak and unpredictable. Pitching tech to potential clients and partners that does not exist and is years possibly even decades from being a potential working product. Even going to the extent as to lie about whether or not a product is actually using a Watson service. 

It is unfortunate that IBM Design has glossed over so much of what IBM company culture is like. Once your in the door and have your sign on bonus you hear how this is a "long term mission", "the road will be tough". Any good designer has no problem working hard but reaching for an impossible goal is demoralizing. The GM of IBM Design will tell you "how they will write books about the success or failure of IBM Design one day". I'm sure they will write a book about this one day. I have an idea which one it will be.