software engineer

senior software engineer

application developer

senior consultant

consultant

The job ad said Java Application Developer at IBM, and it described what sounded like a Java Application Developer position - including coding in Java. I took a pay cut of $13,000 a year for a Java Application Developer position.
What I got was a Tech Support job for a computer application (that wasn't even written in Java) that I had never used before. My training on it involved two weeks of training, where I was taught what to do when other people go on vacation. 
The work I did was painfully boring (and trust me when I say that I have it better than a lot of other people there). I actually want to work, I wanted to be a Java Application Developer. 

My Typical Day at work as Tech Support at IBM (or Java Application Developer if you prefer). I come in, I check my e-mail. I delete about 100 useless e-mails; perhaps I find one that is relevant to me. If I find one that is relevant to me, I address it to the best of my ability with my limited knowledge of the application I am supporting. I then proceed to teach myself something with online tutorials, play some chess, or peruse the Internet job boards looking for a new job. If I manage to get an interview, I leave for the interview.
  
I used to engage in the IBM training that is provided, but it is horribly boring and outdated, and after I did 400 hours of it (and taught myself Android programming on my own), I gave up on it. Any of the good training, IBM doesn't like to foot the bill for. Once there was a mobile development training going on in the building and I requested to attend, but I was told that it would take away from my billable hours and they didn't want to pay for me to attend. I don't work during my billable hours most of the time, instead I am required to just continue to bill the customer (And Yes, there is mandatory overtime in my role) - who apparently doesn't realize that I don't do anything of any use to them and they are paying for really very little.

Around 12:00 I go to the break room and buy lunch from the restaurant that comes in everyday - oh, correction, IBM has now stopped that restaurant from coming in and selling us food. So I go to the coffee maker now and buy a coffee, and I leave for lunch (or a job interview depending upon the events planned for the day). 

When I get back from lunch I check my e-mail, looking for the one relevant e-mail I may have gotten. By this time the guy who sits behind me is usually snoring, and someone else is on a phone interview with another company. I bet you thought I was the only person who looked for work while at work - I am not. I have never seen this behavior anywhere else. Most people don't look for new jobs while at work - but it seems rather common here. 

On the other side of my cubicle will be a few people engaged in playing games on their computers, or watching YouTube videos. At least I am usually more productive than they are - except when I am allowed to work from home on Overtime Saturday, which usually means I check my e-mail a lot more and I watch Netflix all day. On normal days, I will proceed to look for more jobs. Lansing, Michigan is not really a booming job market right now. Although I have seen people come in, work here for a few months and quit. Some of them have done so and not even had another job lined up, but some of them have managed to find work. If everyone who was looking for a job there suddenly found one, I would bet that half the staff would be gone.

Some people may think this sounds like a great job. First off, I hate it. I actually want to do work. Secondly, it is really luck of the draw that I got this role. Other people have a substantial amount of work - most of them were hired in as I was, under the guise of Java Application Developer, but were put into testing roles. Their workloads vary. Some of them don't get any work to do all week until they are forced to work Saturday and then they have a lot of work to do on Saturday and spend 12 hours doing it. Others have to do 80 hours a week (these people make the same pay as me apparently) and actually have a lot of work. I know this as I have gone over to help them just to try and make my time here not completely worthless. 

What really irritates me about this job is not the low pay. I knew this and accepted it. I was lied to blatantly (and I can prove it, I still have the offer letter). When I questioned the management about it, they told me they didn't currently have enough Java developer jobs and yet were that very day on-boarding new "Java Application Developers" who later ended up becoming testers. 

Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT come to the East Lansing IBM center for work. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!

I only worked for IBM because they acquired my employer, and they promised us how totally great it would be and made all kinds of overtures about "round tables" and "collaboration" and all the rest of it.  As it turned out, they completely ignored our advice and proceeded to govern us in a top-down, patriarchal fashion while making every counterproductive and idiotic business decision imaginable.  We were the engineers who knew our product, knew its problems, and how to fix them.  Oh no, IBM is about MANAGEMENT.  Only MANAGEMENT can produce great products.  Your MANAGERS will guide you to greatness, you lowly engineers couldn't possibly know how to make that happen.  

When the acquisition was complete, they moved us into a converted factory building from the 1970s, into a single gigantic windowless room painted fifty shades of grey with a single "accent wall" painted a retina-cauterizing shade of yellow.  The hallways were painted a bilious green.  They periodically ran diesel generators on the roof that filled the building with exhaust fumes, but that was actually an improvememnt over the aroma given off by the carpeting.  We soon referred to our workplace as "The Giant Box of Suck".  

They piled insult upon injury at every turn.  Every week we had to gather to listen to some remote suit blather on about ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for an hour or more.  During one of these speakerphone-melting discourses of tedium I actually tried to count the number of concrete nouns and active verbs and THERE WERE NONE.  

The management rules were petty in the extreme.  Before the acquisition, we got free bagels on Wednesdays.  It really cost nothing and made for much goodwill among the ranks.  IBM wouldn't do that.  

The lowest blow was when they decided to only provide our 401(k) match at the end of the year instead of each pay period.  This was during the bull market so they could bank the gains instead of us.  I'm sure whoever came up with that idea got a nice fat bonus.  

It soon became an extremely depressing place to work.  I lost interest in my job and my performance suffered.  I would take long breaks to wander through the endless, dreary hallways, imagining that I was trapped in the worst dystopian science fiction movie ever made.  Yes, this is the future, and it really, really sucks.  

Eventually half of us left, even if we didn't have jobs.  I left at the end of the year (so I could at least collect my 401(k) match) with no job prospects and I didn't care.  I would rather be unemployed, living in a van down by the river, than work for them.  

When my final paycheck came, their accounting department was so inept that they miscalculated my leftover vacation and I actually had to pay back part of it a month later.  The notice was accompanied by a letter from IBM Legal threatening devastating legal and financial consequences if I did not pay them in 30 days.   

As it turned out, I got a call about a *way* better job less than three weeks later.  So I should have left *much* sooner.  In fact, I should have walked out the minute I heard about the acquisition.  

It was, quite simply, the single worst job I have ever had.  

Working at IBM is like when a religion stages a hostile takeover of your life, a religion worse even than Scientology.  They act like they value your input, but they do not.  This is very sad because IBM used to be a great company that produced major hardware and software innovations.  Now it has been hijacked by financial robber barons who have hollowed it out just like every other formerly great company.  Do not work for these people (unless you are a sociopath, then you will go far).  If you are an engineering student and they show up at your career fair, give them a wide berth.  Just put in your 80 hours every week at a startup, you will learn a lot more, and get much more respect from whoever might be your manager.  

I could go on, but I have said enough.  If you seek happiness, DO NOT WORK FOR IBM!

I had an opportunity to on-board with IBM in 2014 coming from an IBM Business Partner in the Enterprise Content Management space. I did come in at what I thought was a competitive salary as a Lead Development Sales Representative. The first year we absolutely killed our numbers and the Management was hands off and more supportive and coached the entire team on new lead generation and relationship development skills. 

After my success in my role as an LDR, I was approached as IBM had gone through a transformation. The Leadership team of IBM was now asking me to now educate and enable 50 Analytics Portfolio Reps across North America in the Commercial (M&E, E&U and Telecom space) and Enterprise space in Enterprise Content Management. 

From here the team had a lot of success and was now asked to Manage the IBM and Box relationship in the Northeast along with educate the sellers on the Value Proposition of the relationship and what it meant to our clients entailing the IBM and Box relationship along with the synergies that both organizations brought to the table in transforming how the lines of business would now effectively go to work every day. This was really exciting and I remember fist pumping going down the NJ Turnpike as I was headed to visit with some clients in Newark, NJ based on this announcement. 

With the success that the entire team had, I was then asked to be a part of a Science project that IBM had named the IBM Blue Sky Program. The IBM Blue Sky Program was a Program that was intended to educate IBM's top 400 Sales performers to go after Microsoft along with Amazon and other Cloud providers in the market.  IBM invested over 500+ hours in it's sellers to become SME's in IBM Cloud & Cognitive offering versus that of it's competition. Think of that, it is over a quarter of a year in training that IBM has placed in their top sellers in 2017 for a new go to market strategy to get their cloud messaging out in front of our key clients. 

I had a quota for three accounts that entailed 9M in SW attainment and 2.5 in SaaS signings.  In one of the three accounts we had an IBM SO team of 150M in services that was leaving the client and on the other hand we had an very influential stakeholder at the second account that wanted to do nothing with IBM. My Technical Architect and I had only three accounts. We had six months to get educated and enabled on the 500 hours of training modules and 20 videos scored  by our Management Teams,  from there the game plan was to continue to engage the client on the IBM Cloud messaging. Unfortunately the run way was not long enough for all of the hand selected sellers in this new role. The role and program was disbanded as of Jan 2018. With all of the obstacles that my Client Architect and I faced we still were able to close a DSX, Bluemix, Machine Learning, along with Watson deals that estimated over 5.2M in net new Cloud sales, with an identified pipeline that was 3x to be progressed in 2018. 

IBM has treated me well and has given me the wings to advance my overall career to the next level as a Professional Sales Executive and I really appreciate the opportunity that IBM had given me along with the opportunity  to develop the relationships  that I have forged while at IBM!

•	Responsible for effective communication between the project team and the customer. Provide day to day direction to the project team and regular project status to the customer.
•	Configuring and Implementing SAP Sales & Distribution (SAP.SD) Module, Material Management(SAP.MM) and SAP Global trade systems (SAP.GTS).
•	Identifying Key Performance Indicators, Streamlining processes and workflows, Reducing Inventory Cost, Better forecasting model, Provide transparent visible picture of Sales, Purchase, Product Costing, Track actual Cost and perform better pricing for customers.
•	Analyze & differentiate the value added and non-value added business processes and communicate the same to Client through various workshops. 
•	Focus on value addition to the non-value added business processes with innovative ideas & implementing them.
•	Understanding business Process, study and analyze new opportunities to design solutions (As-Is and To-Be analysis and freeze requirements); conduct gap analysis, assess scope of study and suggest solutions through ERP.
•	Work with dedicated client team providing those guidelines, technical assistance and training inputs in order to implement SAP, and enhance their current business process. It involves analysis of the requirements, developing technical solutions, testing and post Go-live support for and agreed time frame.
•	Prepare business test scenarios with client and develop test cases, test the same in Quality server, get user acceptance sign off to move the changes to Production environment.
•	Ensure that the system change request process is adhered to in terms of quality and commitment to timelines for estimation and delivery and incidents raised by WR Grace Users are resolved on time within the Service level Agreement (SLA).
•	Involve with Grace Business analysts and IT managers to gather requirements and also integrate the business scenarios with other SAP modules (MM, PP, PM,FICO, BASIS, BPC and BI/BW) and extend support on post go-live issues. 
•	Regular updating of   AID (Application Information documents) to meet the quality . Cross functional trainings to improve the quality of delivery.
•	Daily interaction with the team members and weekly twice review meeting to stream line the OTC process to bring down the ticket count.
•	Responsible  for Paymetric XiPay , Environment Health & Safety Module, Taxware SMQ1 error & Inter-company set up. 
•	Key resource for the Virtualization project delivery for all the SD interfaces and testing.
•	Responsible for the selecting the right candidate for Grace by conducting interviews.
•	End to End client  business process  study with the custom developments KT sessions.
•	Mentoring and cross training for the delta KT sessions for the team members.
•	Coordinating with the Non SAP team for closing the tickets, taking with the Grace Business Analyst to communicate and approval for the changes at the earliest.
•	Interviewing for on boarding right resource for the client.
•	Identification of  the change request more than 16 hrs and less then 100hrs with the Grace IT manager for L4 projects.
•	Daily status update meeting with the onsite and offshore team to fill up the gaps to met the SLA  and on time delivery of the deliverables.

Not a bad experience. The pay wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't completely terrible although that would be relative to your options.. I was making $40,000 when I first started in September. But when January rolled around they gave the new financial analysts raises to $47,500.

In Rochester, Minnesota, the winter can be brutal. And given such, they allowed us to work from home any time the weather was awful which was a huge plus. We received company issued laptops to do our work on, and when I was still their we each had our own offices with exception to just sharing with one other person (if you were lucky, you didn't have an office mate). I like to have my own space and I liked the capability to close the door if necessary because I like to focus without distraction. I'm not sure if it has been implemented, but when I left they were working on getting everyone moved over into a new wing on the campus in an "open space" environment. We would have moved while I was still there, but the move was delayed a couple of times. Maybe some would like this open environment, but if you're like me and like privacy and quiet when you please, you certainly wouldn't. 

All in all, not a bad experience. If it's still the same as when I left which was April 2017, unless you have a mountain of responsibilities, there's a lot of down time. That downtime can be spent trying to get more work from your manager, watching YouTube, surfing the internet, and even watching Netflix; NO KIDDING. If your plan is to try and grow in the company, I would definitely recommend trying to get as much responsibilities as possible from your manager, if you want to learn excel and the systems as much as possible then I would also recommend trying to get as much work as possible from your manager. If you plan to be at the job just as an entry level position then transition to something else as soon as you can, then I recommend only doing your bare minimum required work then spending the rest of the time doing any of the other activities I mentioned. On a typical day, if you put your phone away and go nose in focused, you can finish all your work in no time, which leads to the downtime (occasionally new work or requests come mid-day but not all the time). I do think in an open environment the YouTube and Netflix would probably not be allowed or at least be much tougher to do, as management would be able to look over your shoulder oppose to having your own office. But each team within the finance department has different managers. A lot of it depends on who your manager is, some are more laid back while others will want to see you working nonstop, or if you're done with everything you have to do, find more work.

Good entry level position but not something I would personally try to grow into. IBM doesn't know what direction to go in to stay relevant. There is definitely increased chances of being laid off since IBM is continuously losing business to competitors. Apparently there was a bunch of layoffs just two years or so before I started.

What is the best part of working at the company?
One of the best aspects of working with IBM is the vast array of opportunities for professional growth and development. IBM is known for its commitment to innovation and cutting-edge technology, which provides employees with the chance to work on exciting projects at the forefront of industry advancements. Additionally, IBM's global presence and diverse workforce create a rich environment for collaboration and learning from colleagues with different backgrounds and perspectives. Moreover, IBM values employee well-being and offers comprehensive benefits and resources to support work-life balance and career progression. Overall, the opportunity to contribute to meaningful work, collaborate with talented individuals, and continuously learn and grow makes working with IBM a rewarding experience.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?

One of the potential stressors at IBM, as with many large corporations, can be navigating the complexity and fast-paced nature of the organization. With its diverse portfolio of products and services and global presence, there can be challenges in communication, coordination, and alignment across teams and projects. Additionally, working on projects that are integral to the company's strategic goals may come with high expectations and tight deadlines, adding to the pressure. Depending on the role and responsibilities, managing workload and balancing priorities can also be stressful. However, IBM offers resources and support systems to help employees cope with these challenges, such as mentorship programs, training opportunities, and initiatives focused on well-being and work-life balance. Overall, while there may be stressful aspects, many employees find the experience at IBM rewarding and fulfilling.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment and culture at IBM are often described as dynamic, collaborative, and innovative. IBM values diversity and inclusion, fostering a culture where employees from diverse backgrounds feel valued and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives. Collaboration is encouraged, with teams often working together across geographies and disciplines to tackle complex challenges and drive innovation.

IBM also emphasizes continuous learning and development, providing employees with access to a wide range of training and professional development opportunities. This focus on learning extends to IBM's culture of experimentation and embracing new technologies and methodologies, encouraging employees to stay at the forefront of industry trends.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Working remotely, my typical day at IBM encompasses a blend of collaborative teamwork, technical tasks, engaging with clients, and ongoing learning and professional growth.

6-year Senior Level IBM Veteran

The work like balance can be outstanding in certain divisions with the exception of the hourly billable divisions like GBS. Work from home is typical for most of the employees which is a sizable benefit which can make the rough edges of IBM seem less bothersome.

Management is changing slowly, but there is an extreme lack of real world experience at all levels of management as to the expectations of what customers really want.  Most of the management team is made of up of decade plus IBM legacy survivors or the person who killed their quota last year and is not based on actual management ability, vision, or coaching ability. It is unfortunate, because there are some amazingly intelligent and deeply experienced people in the company and some good and some horrible managers.

IBM is an insanely inflexible company when it comes to compensation. If you did not come into IBM at a number you can live with, you will likely be disappointed with your salary. Senior leaders should not considering coming into IBM at any band less than a 10. True Executive positions start with a Band D with actual the senior top company VPs and SVP being at band B or A.

Many amazing C-Level thought leaders were lied to on the recruiting process and are stuck at salary limiting band 8 and band 9 levels and do not get promoted or awarded pay increases. As a general policy is it nearly impossible to get promoted up to the next band unless you have had at least two years in a band. It takes a near miracle to jump from a band 10 into an executive level position. I have never heard of anyone at IBM moving into a band D position in less than 5-years as a band 10.

IBM also has its own well though out but goofy certification process which must be completed in most seller or technical seller roles before any advancement can be considered.

It is important to understand where your pay fits into the Banding pay scale. Ideally your salary should not be more than 80%-85% of the range of compensation in the band you are in. Yearly salary increases never occur anywhere in the company - usually every 2-3 years if you are lucky and even then a 7% increase would be unexpectedly high with most increases in the 2-5% range. 

If you travel the PerDiem is fair and allows for nice chain hotels, a decent rental care, and enough to have three sit down meals a day.

Stability is relative. IBM does have rather spontaneous lay-offs, and large scale reorgs expectedly occur at least once a year. Some roles are more stable than others.

Training is continual at IBM and can be significant with most sellers completing over 500 hours of training per year.

The one thing that keep people at IBM is the work from home job flexibility. If every company suddenly offered the same option, there would be a mass exodus from IBM.

During my tenure in technical support, I gained extensive knowledge about the application I was assisting, as well as the various operating systems, tape libraries, and tape drives. When faced with challenging issues, I have colleagues I can consult for assistance, while others merely suggest reviewing the manual. One of the most challenging aspects of the role is dealing with customers who fail to provide complete information or neglect to send the necessary logs to help diagnose the problem. It raises questions about how some individuals secure their positions. Some customers may express dissatisfaction in surveys, even if their issues are resolved within thirty minutes or if their questions are not answered promptly. I find long weekends particularly frustrating, as customers often call for support just fifteen minutes before they leave, seeking resolution for problems they have been attempting to address for the past several days. And they want a solution before they leave work. Naturally, identifying the root cause of the issue is rarely straightforward. After the long weekend is just as bad. When the application crash and the customer wants a root cause analyses on why the system crashed but they have cleared out the logs. The customer gets mad when I ask to recreate the issue so that there will be messages generated.  It is astonishing that some companies lack a testing system or mistakenly believe they are secure simply because their backups have completed successfully.  Of course the customer will  say "the backup completed with success!" When I began my career at IBM, my mentor warned me that internal customers could be quite challenging. I have since realized that it is a mixed bag, with both commendable and difficult internal customers. Regarding management, I am fortunate to have a supportive manager who stands by the team and does not undermine us. In contrast, I have encountered a manager who was self-serving and would readily throw others under the bus; I was relieved when he transferred to another division within IBM. As for weekend duties, the positives  when there are few or no incoming calls, while the negatives occur when call volume is high or when a partner shirks their responsibilities, leaving all the calls to me. IBM's ambition to implement AI in place of human technicians raises concerns, especially when customers struggle to articulate their issues or provide only minimal error codes. In such cases, AI may generate a list of potential solutions, but the adage 'garbage in, garbage out' holds true.
Compensation with IBM use to be excellent! Now, the compensation is the worse.  The 401k contribution will be a lump sum given on Dec 15, that is if you are still employed with IBM. 

Pros:

    Innovative Projects and Technologies: IBM is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and is involved in various innovative projects. Working on projects that pushed the boundaries of what's possible in the tech industry was incredibly exciting. The company's commitment to research and development is commendable.

    Work-Life Balance: IBM places a strong emphasis on maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This was evident through flexible work arrangements and an understanding of the importance of personal time. The company's dedication to employee well-being is a definite plus.

    Global Exposure: Working at IBM provided me with exposure to a diverse and global work environment. Collaborating with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds enriched my professional experience and broadened my perspectives.

    Training and Skill Development: IBM offers a wide range of training and skill development opportunities. The company invests in its employees by providing resources to enhance their knowledge and capabilities, which is beneficial for career growth.

Cons:

    Middle Management Bottleneck: One of the notable drawbacks of my experience at IBM was the presence of an excessive number of middle managers. This led to a slower decision-making process and often hindered the execution of projects. Important decisions had to go through multiple layers of approval, which at times felt redundant and counterproductive.

    Communication Challenges: The hierarchical structure sometimes resulted in challenges with communication. Information didn't always flow smoothly between teams, and there were instances where crucial details were lost in the layers of management.

    Agility and Adaptability: Due to the larger size of the organization, IBM faced difficulties in quickly adapting to market changes and trends. While the company's focus on stability is understandable, it occasionally made it challenging to pivot swiftly in response to dynamic market demands.

    Innovation Implementation: While IBM is undoubtedly innovative in its projects and research, the implementation of these innovations could sometimes be slowed down by bureaucratic processes and a reluctance to embrace change.

In conclusion, my experience at IBM was a mix of positive and challenging moments. The company's commitment to cutting-edge technologies, work-life balance, and skill development were highlights of my time there. However, the presence of numerous middle managers and the resulting sluggish decision-making process did pose obstacles to efficient project execution. Despite these challenges, I value the knowledge and experience I gained at IBM and believe it played a significant role in my professional growth.

My wife and I both worked for IBM for 18 and 11 years respectively.

My wife worked in finance and her worst manager was decent.  The only real complaint I can raise is that one manager demanded she stay late for a meeting and later canceled said meeting without informing my wife (keeping both of us late since we carpooled).  We finally had to call to find out it was canceled as much as an hour after the meeting time.  This is the ONLY incident I know of, for her, in the 18 years she was in finance with the company.

Me?  My managers were either very good, or quite bad.

Example: I was given an award and the man who put me in for the award called to congratulate me and revealed that he put me in for said award (he'd been working for IBM 30+ years at the time so had some ways of knowing things he should not have, like my award went through).  My manager stopped by just after he'd called and told me that IBM had changed their awards policies and thus it was not possible to give out many small awards, only singleton large awards.  My award was actually meant for the team, would I mind signing it over to him?

This basically took any joy or pride in the award away from me.  It was patently wrong, if not illegal.  I scared him away by talking about tax implications and I suspect that he had no way to work around that so backed off.  I DID share my award with my team by buying them gifts that year (it was very near Christmas time).

Another manager was known for choosing an employee and making his/her time at IBM so miserable, they would quit.  She chose me at one point.  During this (brief) time frame, another employee who'd shifted to another manager came back to work for her and this employees hands were literally shaking at the thought of working for my manager.  She indeed rode me, nitpicking every detail she could.  When I finally made a mistake (who wouldn't when pressured enough), she wrote me up on 13 accounts.  Every single one of the 13 problems she brought up was wrong!  It was niggling details in which she was wrong (wrong company in one case, but correct error).  My second line was 'ashamed that I was quibbling'.  My take is that if you are going to crater a career, you had better be correct when you bring forth the charges.  The fact that she made mistakes on ALL of them should reflect.

These are just two examples of the poor management that I have experienced at IBM.  Note that my experience was galvanically split between fantastic managers and very poor ones.  In fairness I should list a few 'good' examples but, they are of the nature of taking great care of employees on day to day basis (giving us time off during down periods, clear direction in job, etc) so it is a wee difficult to list examples.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 90 salaries reported	$132,764 per year
Senior software engineer 16 salaries reported	$177,893 per year
Application developer 12 salaries reported	$58,365 per year
Senior consultant 6 salaries reported	$134,167 per year
Consultant 3 salaries reported	$136,667 per year

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