Company: IBM
Date: 2017-05-24
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

Self Sufficiency is key
Pros: Great Pay and Benefits. Really smart co-workers. Good Work/Life balance by way of Remote Work option. Opportunity to move around within the company and experience different positions.
Cons: IBM stands for I've Been Moved or I'm By Myself. Manager changes every 12 months. Sales coverage (territory) changes every 12 months. People come and go in your ecosystem rapidly so it is hard to develop long term working relationships. Mentor(s)  will change as people leave. A lot of layoffs have affected morale. Sometimes you get a manager or find a mentor that will help you think through how to grow your career. Sometimes it seems like no one cares about you and your growth. I felt like every time I got a new manager or territory, I would have to start over again to develop my reputation as a high performer.  Most of the time, I suffered from new guy syndrome. A tenured rep was laid off for a low performing territory and IBM would give me the crap territory and 12 months to turn it around. Hard to make a lot happen in a short amount of time. My colleagues told me not to be so hard on myself. If a tenured rep couldn't make the territory perform, there was not a lot more that I, the new guy, could do.  But I tried my damnest, and after 4 or 5 restarts with new territories, IBM finally gave up on me.