Company: IBM
Date: 2019-07-07
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

GBS & CIC: Good for recent-grads but don't stay long
Pros: If you're looking to join IBM GBS in their CIC unit, they offer a good "party platter" of different jobs and roles you can try out. Its is suitable for recent-grads or folks new to IT and software engineering. In this Center, you'll learn a lot of things, and you'll earn a lot of hotel/airline miles from flying every week to client sites. The CIC's clients have a range of demanding jobs. But you're never alone as you'll have the backing of a massive company behind you, ready to help. There are so many experts and SMEs within the company directory to reach out to and ask for help. This is a good place to work for people who are looking for fast paced work with changing demands, you'll end up playing all kinds of roles from dba, sysadmin, IT levels 1, 2, 3, and general programming. If you end up on a project that you dislike after a few months, you could switch to other projects if they have seats available and you get management approval. Projects are very liquid, so if you don't see something you like this week, something else might pop up next week. Your IBM assigned laptop can be Lenovo or Apple Macbook, with the Lenovos offering choice of Windows or a few Linux flavors like RHEL. But some projects require client-approved laptops that are entirely up to them. Lastly, but most importantly, you'll meet lots of smart and dedicated people. Connect with them early and keep in touch. I would only recommend people work at an IBM CIC for a year or so until they can find something else more stable or in their specific career field.
Cons: Client projects available to pick from are mostly legacy and maintenance "keep the lights on", and not a lot of actual programming. (Workday, SuccessFactors, RPM systems, etc.) 

The utilization reports are all that matter. You have to record your hours every week on Thursday by 4pm or managers will hunt you down, but their time-recording tool won't let you pre-set hours for the coming week. 

Your progressions are tied to how many extra hours you can bill the client, and since you're salary you won't earn OT. Progressions to the next band level are only allowed once per year. Its not merit-based. If you're ever sick and looking to take a sick-day, you'll be pushed to work-from-home instead to continue billing hours to the client.

The minimum expected billing is 44hrs/wk but it wasn't unheard of to work 70hrs/wk. Every so often, there will be a competition to see which worker can earn the most hours in a month. Some folks worked 150+% utilization during this time. The winners of these competitions would get a $25-$50 gift card. 

If you're one of the few that actually works in the Center, the office supplies are non-existent. Good luck if you need a pen, paper, whiteboard markers, or other basic supplies as they don't stock up on anything. Including coffee. And no, we weren't allowed to bring in personal coffee makers. 

Conference rooms are constantly being squatted by managers, which forces everyone to make conf calls from their cubicle in an already loud open office. You don't get an IBM-assigned mobile phone, so you'll have to share your personal phone number with managers, coworkers, and clients. 

Projects come and go on a whim. Your project can get pulled out from under you one day and the next you'll be assigned something else entirely. That next project could require travel, so starting next week you could be in New York for the next six months. 

Sometimes the bill codes for a project will stop working, so your utilization will plummet while PMs scramble to get new billing accounts in place. Which triggers your name to show up on reports other mangers see, and then they'll ask why you're not billing hours, and you'll explain the bill code doesn't work, all the while your PM is not communicating this to the upper managers in the first place. 

Even if you're not affected by RAs (mass layoffs), you'll hear about them every year. It wasn't uncommon for PMs and coworkers to disappear. It seemed a lot of seasoned workers would announce their "retirement", only to update their LinkedIn that they're working for another company. Again, make connections while you're here and network with these people as soon as possible. You'll never know if they'll be RA'd or retire unexpectedly.