Company: IBM
Date: 2013-07-16
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

All Hail Big Brother IBM!
Pros: This is a name brand Global Worldwide Recognition Company
Cons: A vastly over-rated, outdated & antiquted, gigantic behemoth of a company that can't adapt to change very easilty and uses employee application sottware, hardware, and documentation from the 1980's era which is more difficult to use than the actual job you're doing. Their insulated company culture is full of employees who are used to being told how to think and not to question authority and uses excessive inside company jargon "newspeak" & recursive acronyms automatically assuming that you know what they're talking about without defining what they mean and most of their own employees don't even know what they mean. After you experience the friendly New Hire Employee Orientation Phase the first week and then begin the torutuos Employee Training phase the 2nd week where the "Trainers" teach in a very egocentric narrow-minded mannaer you're subjected to being treated like a child who shouldn't talk back to their parents in a military boot camp atmosphere that uses fear and intimidation as motivational techniques like you're a child back in grammar school. After I one day apparently asked too many questions in a training seminar I was taken to a private room by 2 of the trainers who asked me for feedback about how I thought that I was doing. At the end, 1 of the trainers menacingly said to me, "I'm watching you!". If you offer suggestions to them, their attitude is, "Why talk about things like that because IBM is never go to change anyway!". You even sometimes attend "Lunch & Learn" classroom  training where  you can't even take a real lunch break away from the training; but must endure stomach indigestion during your training session lunch breaks. Even though they say that they openly solicit questions & comments during the Training Phase I don't recommend speaking up too much to them otherwise you will let them know that you have an open mind and can actually think for yourself and aren't going to blindly swallow their company business culture.I was hired by IBM to be a Field Services Representative by an IBM Service Delivery Manager and began work on April 22, 2013 and rushed out too fast to their Training Class in Boulder, Colorado after only 1 week where most of the other trainees have already been out in the field for over 1 month or more. After arriving at the Hyatt House in Boulder, Colorado, I couldn't even access the WiFi Access Point or the IBM Intranet with their company supplied IBM ThinkPad, even though I could access the WiFi Access Point with my own Dell Notebook Computer. I called the IBM Help Desk and the Hyatt House Help Desk and neither one could figure out why or help me. when I mentioned this to my trainers, they didn't help me either; but they told me that I was supposed to "take ownership of the problem". I finally figured out how to access the IBM Intranet from the Hyatt House Hotel in Boulder, Colorado after 3 days; but I was already too far behind the rest of the other trainees and didn't even pass the first test that was administered after 1 week. One of the conditions for qualifying for this job was to relocate from where I was previously living in Binghamton, New York to Syracuse, New York. I agreed to do this and I asked my manager if I could be compensated for my moving expenses; but he replied no. I moved into my Syracuse, New York apartment located at High Acres Apartments & Townhouses after signing a 1 year lease paying $965/month on Saturday May 26, 2013 to Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2013 with my manager's approval. On June 7, 2013, my manager informed me that he was terminating my employment with IBM because he didn't think that I would fit into the "IBM Business Culture". I informed my landlord's leasing office immediately; but they told me I wasn't able to break the 1 year lease unless I moved out immediately. I asked my former landlord at High Acres Apartments in Binghamton, New York if I could move back to my former apar tment; but they said that I couldn't because I was now unemployed. Now I'm obligated to pay High Acres Apartments & Townhouses in Syracuse, New York 12 months x $965/month =  $11,580.  I am only receiving $268/week from the US Department of Labor EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) Program. Is that a nice way to treat new employees right after attending their New Employee IBM Orientation and Training? Now I know why Bill Gates once  turned down a job working at IBM in Endicott, New York. IBM abandoned the city that put them on the global map too, so that should tell you what your hard work for this company will get you - a "pink slip. So my advice is, "Run Away!" as fast as you can! IBM. UBM. We all BM for IBM!