IBM reviews

Despite what the recruiters/interviewers tell you, IBM is NOT a management consulting company. Yes, we do talk to C-Suite, but only the CIO, and when we do, it's because we're either selling or implementing IBM products/solutions, not because we're trying to help you figure out why your company's profits are declining. Given the sales-driven and margin-driven nature of the company, here are some cons if you don't do your research thoroughly... - MENIAL, MINDLESS WORK: as a CbDer, you're hired in to do PMO, testing, and note taking. People have this misconception that CbDers are their assistants, and will treat you as such, making you schedule meetings, book conference rooms, upload a document onto Box. There's no analytical or critical thinking required whatsoever, and definitely don't expect to be challenged. - LONG DURATION OF PROJECTS: IBM projects run longer than typical consulting firms, usually ranging from 6-9 months. Again, because they are mostly implementation-type work, you'll be doing the same thing (e.g. testing) the whole time. Don't expect that much exposure to different industries or types of projects. Your first project pretty much pigeon-holes you to do the same thing for the rest of your career, unless you really fight HARD to get onto something you want. - LACK OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: in the CbD program, you have 3 mandatory trainings. They're a lot of fun, because you get to hang out with people in your start class. However, the stuff you learn is absolutely useless for your job. They hire a third party vendor to conduct these sessions. They teach you things like how to present better, but it's useless because you'll never be given an opportunity to present to anyone. - CONSTANT REORG: there's been I think 3 (?) reorgs during the 2 years that I've worked here, both GBS-wide and CbD-specific. Despite IBM being an established corporation, the consulting arm is still relatively young (acquired from PwC a few years ago), so it almost feels as if we're going through the growing pains of a young company... just a general lack of clear direction and constantly shifting corporate strategy. - LAYOFFS: during my time here, I've seen maybe 3 rounds of layoffs, which has affected people that were on my team, as well as people in my start class (yeah, THAT young). If you think you're immune from layoffs because you're a fresh college grad, think again. No one's safe here, and everyone's always on edge. - OUTDATED INTERNAL TECHNOLOGIES: it's embarrassing how bad IBM internal technologies are being that we boast we're at the forefront of technology. Most tools employees use (expense system, travel booking system, lotus notes) SUCK. They haven't been refreshed since the 1990's and are extremely cumbersome to use.

1. Compensation - Starting salary is 40k with a sign-on bonus of $1,500.. Not bad for a recent college grad just starting out, I'll admit. But don't expect to see a raise any time soon. Or a bonus. You'll likely see that same paycheck twice a month for years to come. 2. On-the-Job Training - This was how I figured out IBM was a joke within the first couple weeks. My previous manager told me on the first day, "you'll think we've never trained somebody in before." He was right. Although they offer training classes, these are basically a formality for all new hires. These sad excuses for classes won't actually help you do your job. The person I shared an office with basically taught me everything. 3. Job Satisfaction - I worked some not-so-fun jobs through college. I sold shoes, did janitorial work, cleaned horse stalls. Even at $8-10 an hour, these jobs were still more enjoyable than being a Financial Analyst at IBM. 4. Cost-Cutting - This is my biggest problem with IBM as a company. IBM actually just laid off about 1,200 employees from their US workforce in the week I wrote this review. Some from the Rochester plant were included in this. If you're thinking about starting a career at IBM by taking a financial analyst job, consider this: From 2007 to 2011, the US IBM workforce has shrunk from 135,000 down to 98,000 employees. They have been shipping these jobs overseas and will continue to do so because the labor is simply cheaper over there. IBM could care less about their employees. It's all about making the shareholders money, even if it means canning people that have been with the company for almost 30 years. 5. Work-Loads - Although some of the work is being shipped overseas, a lot of this work is just being piled on to current employees' workloads. Now I understand that the longer you stay with a company the more work you'll have to do, that's a given. But along with that usually comes a pay increase. As a Financial Analyst I guarantee you will be given more, and more, and more mind-numbing work to do. And to thank you for your efforts, IBM will let you use their bathrooms. Sweet deal, right? This job does provide good finance experience for a recent college grad, but that's about it.. This isn't the place to build a career. In my opinion, the entire COE will be shipped overseas in the next 5-10 years.