Company: IBM
Date: 2013-07-30
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Crazy, with a side of fear.
Pros: IBM is a great stepping stone to open doors for future jobs. Let's face it, the IBM name carries a lot of influence (unless you've worked there).
Cons: The processes are second to none in that you give up on trying to do anything because you can't figure out how and no one will tell you--because they've never been able to figure it out either. Seriously, it's easier to go buy your own office supplies/books/training because trying to order something through bond is a crusade. 

Everything, and I mean everything is only done for "the business." Promotions are solely based on business need, not performance. 

You can be (and I was) a top performer each year that you are employed there, but it gets you nothing, aside from a small "profit sharing" bonus. I got three raises in 2012, but they didn't add up to one half of one of the raises I received at my former company.

The more a company preaches work life balance, the more out of whack the company is. And IBM preaches it. A lot. 40 hour work weeks are not the norm, at least within the Industry Solutions division. My three year experience was 50 hour standard work weeks (working through lunch on a daily basis) and upwards of 80-90 hour weeks several months of the year for special projects. 

IBMs strategy of acquiring companies to broaden their portfolio of offerings is riddled with integration issues and their picking and choosing of who is retained and who is RA'd is seemingly random with no regard for level of skill. 

The "it is what it is" attitude and getting texted by your boss at 11pm at night to get back online and work because their boss is online and expecting things to be done at 11pm is completely ridiculous.