Company: IBM
Date: 2019-02-11
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Supportive and challenging
Pros: Moving to IBM Ballarat a year ago was worth it. There's a good bunch of people working here and lots of opportunity for anyone who wants to make a difference. I like that I am able to just be myself when I come to work and I'm valued for it, it's great to be among people who respect and understand me. I've been fortunate to have supportive management who are helping me achieve my career goals, I've also asked for and been given opportunities to develop my leadership skills. IBM gives you access to so much learning via the intranet, it's astounding how much knowledge is there to be shared and the people you can reach out to for help are pretty supportive. There's also a lot of support from top management to grow the site, so lots of potential for future advancement.

Ballarat itself is a great place to live and work, being a regional location you've got the benefit of a more relaxed lifestyle and friendly country-town feel, yet the facilities of a city with a population of 100,000+. Plus it's not too far for a Melbourne day-trip! Pretty much anywhere you choose to live will only be a 20 minute commute at most (many of my co-workers live 5 minutes walk), and it's great for families as the council puts on all sorts of free activities during the year.
Cons: Cost of before/after school care