Company: IBM
Date: 2017-03-24
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Great start to a career, but impersonal
Pros: Great start to a career, but impersonal
Great compensation and benefits 
Opportunities to explore different career paths and industries if you're not sure exactly what you want to do 
Work with really smart, interesting people 
Constantly changing clients/projects/locations 
Challenging roles you would not get hired for specifically- plenty of room to grow
To me there doesn't seem to be a glass ceiling at IBM. I worked hard, was often recognized for my work, and found really interesting and challenging roles. The better you do, the more responsibility you are given. 
As a first job out of college, if you're not sure exactly what you want to do and don't mind traveling 4 days/week, this is the perfect job.
Cons: If you are a consultant, you do not have control over where you are working geographically- at any time you could be placed on a project anywhere for any period of time. This is probably true of any consulting company.

Also if you are a consultant, you likely will not have control over the roles you take in the organization. If a team needs a gap to be filled, you will have to step in even if it's not in the industry you would like or where you want to be. 

One of my largest qualms with working at IBM was that there is no emphasis on manager relationships. You will more than likely not know and not often interact with your manager. This is no fault of theirs-- they have full time jobs, are most often not on the same project or client as you, and are not based in your city. I have not met any of the (many) managers I've had through re-orgs, and infrequently interacted with them. Managers are not rewarded for working with their managees and not motivated to do so.

The culture is fast-paced and demanding. I realized quickly that I did not want to become senior at IBM, as the expectation is that you will always be available and ready to work (weekends, late nights, etc.) This is how people earn respect at IBM. 

I've had several instances in which older men have made unwanted advances toward me. With a company as large as IBM, I can see how this could happen. I was able to quickly deal with these scenarios.