Company: IBM
Date: 2016-07-10
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

NO thanks
Pros: - Flexible work from home option (or anywhere there's a WiFi connection)
- Freedom. Often your Managers are in remote locations
- Travel (if you like that) Sometimes in interesting cities. Accommodations are nice
- Benefits are decent but declining
- Recognizable name on resume
Cons: - Impersonal. You are literally a number. You are assigned a serial# on day 1 and this becomes your identity within the company
- Difficult to form relationships with colleagues. There was a complete lack of camaraderie, which fostered competition within my own team and other divisions
- Antiquated internal systems. (i.e. filling out Excel spreadsheets for job tracking purposes)
- Incompetent Managers who knew nothing of the creative process and like to play office politics, favorites and are extremely bureaucratic. Conform to the IBM way and do not speak the truth
- Expectation of 24/7 availability including weekends to meet unrealistic demands and short deadlines without any incentive
- IBM = I'm By Myself. You are your own HR, Admin, Travel Agent, Security and Office Manager and so on
- Have a question? Good luck navigating W3 (IBM's cumbersome intranet) to find answers to the simplest things
- Some office locations are deplorable. My specific mobile location was something straight out of the 80's. No perks. Not even a break room
- Their idea of training and skill growth was watching online videos, of which you are required to complete 40hrs a year on your own time
- Low morale due to constant lay-offs (or Resource Actions) and a sickening severance package of 1 month no matter how many years you dedicated your life and career with IBM

Overall, working for IBM was the worst job experience of my 15+ career as a Graphic Designer.

Your own experience will vary widely depending on the division, your managers and your working environment preferences.