Company: IBM
Date: 2012-11-05
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Lackluster consulting experience, no support to new IBMers
Pros: A lot of experience, but you don't necessarily choose the experience - the project does for you. A good chance you'll travel and see new places. You'll make connections and friends easily when you're away from home. Pay and benefits are ok. Project managers are generally knowledgeable, but it's really a hit or miss depending on which project you're on.
Cons: I was a new hire. In hindsight, IBM is like any large consulting company. There is a high rate of turnover, and very little support/investment is given to their new staff. Managers care about the bottom line and how many hours you're able to log, and not whether or not projects are a good fit for you. The upward mobility requires you to be at over 100% utilization, as well as the ability for you to "sell yourself" within the company. This results in a lot of fancy terminology thrown around by people who may not know anything about the topic - i.e. "process improvement." 

There is no work/life balance, but if you're young you can give a couple years here for experience. A band 6 should go to a band 7 in 2 years, but this really depends on whether or not you're able to BS well on your assessments, and whether or not your project manager supports that BS. Going from a band 6 to a 7, in the 2 years it takes you to get there, means a paltry raise and a new title - not much more to it than that. You'll also bill at different rates, so band 7s might have problems getting on a project where all they're looking for is a clerk.