Company: IBM
Date: 2017-03-01
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

IBM GBS Consulting by Degrees (CbD) Program
Pros: - PEOPLE: you get to work with some of the greatest and brightest people if you're lucky. You'll get close to your start class and it'll feel like an extension of college. 
- PAY: if you went to a target school, then your pay is probably pretty good compared to your peers' starting salaries at PwC, EY, etc. (hey, that's how they trapped me here)
- TRAVEL PERKS: if you enjoy traveling, then you're in the right place to rack up miles and hotel points. You can also do alternate travel and fly somewhere else for the weekend, which is pretty nice.
Cons: Despite what the recruiters/interviewers tell you, IBM is NOT a management consulting company. Yes, we do talk to C-Suite, but only the CIO, and when we do, it's because we're either selling or implementing IBM products/solutions, not because we're trying to help you figure out why your company's profits are declining. 

Given the sales-driven and margin-driven nature of the company, here are some cons if you don't do your research thoroughly...

- MENIAL, MINDLESS WORK: as a CbDer, you're hired in to do PMO, testing, and note taking. People have this misconception that CbDers are their assistants, and will treat you as such, making you schedule meetings, book conference rooms, upload a document onto Box. There's no analytical or critical thinking required whatsoever, and definitely don't expect to be challenged. 
- LONG DURATION OF PROJECTS: IBM projects run longer than typical consulting firms, usually ranging from 6-9 months. Again, because they are mostly implementation-type work, you'll be doing the same thing (e.g. testing) the whole time. Don't expect that much exposure to different industries or types of projects. Your first project pretty much pigeon-holes you to do the same thing for the rest of your career, unless you really fight HARD to get onto something you want.
- LACK OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: in the CbD program, you have 3 mandatory trainings. They're a lot of fun, because you get to hang out with people in your start class. However, the stuff you learn is absolutely useless for your job. They hire a third party vendor to conduct these sessions. They teach you things like how to present better, but it's useless because you'll never be given an opportunity to present to anyone.
- CONSTANT REORG: there's been I think 3 (?) reorgs during the 2 years that I've worked here, both GBS-wide and CbD-specific. Despite IBM being an established corporation, the consulting arm is still relatively young (acquired from PwC a few years ago), so it almost feels as if we're going through the growing pains of a young company... just a general lack of clear direction and constantly shifting corporate strategy.
- LAYOFFS: during my time here, I've seen maybe 3 rounds of layoffs, which has affected people that were on my team, as well as people in my start class (yeah, THAT young). If you think you're immune from layoffs because you're a fresh college grad, think again. No one's safe here, and everyone's always on edge.
- OUTDATED INTERNAL TECHNOLOGIES: it's embarrassing how bad IBM internal technologies are being that we boast we're at the forefront of technology. Most tools employees use (expense system, travel booking system, lotus notes) SUCK. They haven't been refreshed since the 1990's and are extremely cumbersome to use.