Company: IBM
Date: 2010-04-06
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

You can learn a lot and achieve a lot, but there are obstacles
Pros: Since its acquisition by IBM, the benefit package has improved significantly. IBM offers one of the best 401k plans on the market, with immediate employer matching. In fact, even if you don't contribute a cent, IBM will contribute 1% of your salary for you. You can also choose from several health plans with no co-payments.

If you're willing to put in a considerable amount of time and effort in learning to network and navigate the massive IBM community, there are many opportunities to move into other roles. IBM also encourages telecommuting, so it's possible to find a position that isn't tied to a specific geographic location. 

You can learn a lot about the exploding field of predictive analytics and work on interesting projects with smart, dedicated people.
Cons: Limited opportunities for continuing education or training. Since all training dollars must come out of departmental budgets rather than a company-wide fund, managers generally won't approve any activities that have costs attached to them because they don't want to look like they are spending any money. We're limited to internal training (which is not necessarily relevant for every role) or self-education. Unless you're willing to relocate or can find a telecommuting position, opportunities in the Chicago area are somewhat limited. The work at home policy is also very arbitrarily supported, depending on who your manager is. 

There are some very poor managers who do not know how to relate to or manage people and who are only concerned with making themselves look good at the expense of their teams. The metrics by which employees are evaluated can be extremely unrealistic and difficult to meet.

IBM is huge and spread out, and it's hard as a new employee to find out who to go to with questions about anything. You have to go through the massive intranet site and hope you enter the right search criteria. The IT help desk is outsourced to India, so if you have a technical issue, be prepared to deal with the language barrier, which can be very frustrating when you're a non-technical user and need clear, simple directions on how to change your password or set up a wireless connection.

Because everything must be reviewed by so many people, it's difficult to get things done quickly. Too much input by too many "interested parties" makes employees feel they don't have any autonomy.