IBM reviews

Being the size that it is, political and networking skills are as important ( perhaps even more important ) than technological skills. Do not depend on management to outline a career path, you are on your own. Low-level managers are generally too busy answering to their managers to help employees. Also remember that profit is number one at IBM. This company is about making a dollar first and how to use technology and current trends in the pursuit of that goal. IBM is first and foremost a business. This may be a good company for an MBA, not necessarily for an engineer. Specifically as a staff software engineer, some of the downsides are long hours, little input to the decision making process and little consideration for work/life balance. Remember, it's a privilege to work at IBM ! ( OK, yes, I'm a little bitter. )

Management lies, and as a first line manager, I know ... Indeed my management chain requires me to lie to my team: people I trust and respect. Lies and misrepresentation are the IBM family values, particularly for personnel issues and also for business metrics. That is the biggest downside - you never know when you're getting the straight story. For example, the PBC system is a ranking system. A first line manager is told what their "skew" has to be - the company advertises that a first line manager can use their own judgment for differentiation between team members, subject to some oversight to ensure equity. In actual fact managers are told what to do and are required to lie to their team members so that the executives can make their metrics. There are many other examples - and I see them every day - it always comes down to managing the metrics, rather than the results.