Reflections From My IBM Internship This Summer http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vQyy5
Over the past three months, Anthony Leon has had the pleasure of joining IBM's talent acquisition team in IBM's Global Business Services (GBS) for his internship. As he prepares to head back to Cornell University to finish his Master of Industrial and Labor Relations, it's time to reflect and share his learnings at IBM this...
IBM's career re-entry program wants you back http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vQ0hJ
Many women in tech leave midcareer. Now companies like IBM are trying to get them to return to the workforce.
A career with IBM - whether you join us as an intern, a graduate, an early professional , with your MBA in hand or as an experienced professional - provides a gateway into a global network of talented, driven and inquisitive individuals, working together in a company where creativity and individuality are deeply valued and cultivated.
IBM’s Purpose - to be essential - and our Values - dedication to every client’s success, innovation that matters and personal responsibility in all relationships, serve as the foundation of our culture and brand. It’s the “why” of IBM.
As we enter a new era for our industry and our planet, our CEO has asked, “What will we make of this moment – as businesses, as individuals, as societies?”. Join us as we make the most of these exciting times and discover what you can make of this moment— you’ll be proud to call yourself an IBMer.…
In times of change, we hold steady our beliefs—and reinvent everything else. Our Purpose of being essential to clients—it's unwavering. It is what we have chosen to do differently from—and better than—anyone in the world. In the same way we are transforming to help clients unlock the value of data, cloud and engagement, we are intentionally and methodically changing IBM so that it's not only organized differently, but works differently.
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Today and every day, we create a staggering amount of information: formulas, tweets, field notes, legal opinions, photos and more. But the programmable computers of the past couldn’t make sense of all that information. Cognitive systems like IBM WatsonTM can. It lets us do things we’ve never done before. Outthink obstacles. Spot diseases before patients display symptoms. Predict trends before they’re trending. Answer questions before they’re asked.
At IBM you really do have the opportunity to change the way the world works. IBMers are actively:
• Developing cures for cancer
• Improving access to quality education
• Making travel safer, faster and more enjoyable
• Predicting natural disasters
• Transforming music royalties
• Greening the planet
• Making cities smarter
• And so much more…
Welcome to the cognitive era. Will you join us?
A guide for new hires
An early start at career success begins with Your IBM, our new-hire training program. You'll learn how IBM works, how to maximize your contribution to the company, how to successfully navigate within IBM and connect with your colleagues — and have fun in the process!
Planning your career
As the world changes and as we change with it, IBM’s differentiator is you!
At IBM, you’ll turn vision into reality for our clients with the modern tools you need to do your work, be responsive to clients, and to act with speed and agility. To help you identify opportunities, construct a skills road map and mark your progress, IBM offers easy-to-navigate career Web sites and tools. Here are just a few examples of the top-notch career development opportunities you’ll have at IBM:•
"The employees of IBM represent a talented and diverse workforce. Achieving the full potential of this diversity is a business priority that is fundamental to our competitive success. A key element in our workforce diversity programs is IBM's long-standing commitment to equal opportunity...."
— Virginia M. Rometty, IBM Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Women
At IBM, women help lead the way. Successful women are part of our legacy. Here you'll find innovative leadership programs to help accelerate your career, and many more opportunities to develop new skills and contribute to the advancement of your field. See why IBM is the best place for women in technology to work.
26 Innovations x 26 Innovative Women
Follow a few of IBM's most dynamic technical women through a typical workday: A Day in the Life
Who are today’s generation of “hidden figures”?
Individuals with Disabilities
IBM's long-standing commitment to people with disabilities began in 1914 when IBM hired its first disabled employee, 76 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A number of first-of-a-kind technology innovations that transformed the assistive technology landscape and provided people with disabilities with unprecedented access to technology, resulted from IBM’s early and often pioneering efforts. Among these innovations were the first Braille printer (1975), a talking typewriter for people who are blind (1980) and a talking display terminal (1981).
Veterans
Veterans are an integral part of our workforce. They are represented in the executive ranks, management, and throughout every business unit or division in IBM. We view our veterans as essential and invaluable contributors. Learn more
This is your opportunity to join a company where you can make the world work better – we are IBMers, and that’s what we do. World-class learning opportunities, mentoring and a flexible work environment -- you will find a wealth of opportunities within IBM to create the career you’ve always imagined. And there are no limits to the opportunities we offer – from design to analytics, consulting to sales, development to marketing.
With so many programs available– from short term internships, to graduate positions, to programs designed for those of you with an MBA, we offer a world of opportunities. So if you are thinking about a career at IBM or you are interested in learning how your skills, expertise and interests fit with available IBM job opportunities – then we invite you to find out more …
Not sure which direction to take?
Participate in the first release of IBM's new job matching capability powered by Watson. Provide your resume or curriculum vitae (CV) and let Watson match you to current IBM jobs that you can apply to today. You can also provide feedback on how well we did providing jobs that fit you to help Watson learn and provide even better matches in the future! To get started, click here
What’s it really like?
Hear from some of our own graduates and interns, from across the globe, on why they love working at IBM….
Helpful (476)
I have been working at IBM full-time (More than 8 years)
Pros
Disclaimer: A lot of what I'm writing below of course depends on the work area and management chain. But I found this to be fairly pervasive policies in IBM in my 9+ years with the company.
1. IBM's policies and management are very flexible when it comes to working remotely or accommodating various life situations (sick days, doctor visits, etc.). Management is encouraged to measure an employee by their work and impact, and not by hours spent at their office.
2. Great colleagues! Though unfortunately, many have been leaving due to the instability of IBM's HW development business.
3. At least in my area, there's a high level of flexibility on which projects should I undertake based on my and my management assessment of business impact.
Cons
1. Unfortunately, IBM still uses the "normal distribution" rating system, where at the end of the year each employee is ranked as a top contributor (5%), above average contributor (15%), average contributor (~75%), and bottom contributor (5%). This curve is difficult to apply in the R&D world, where you may have many members of the team working long and hard hours, and end up being "average contributors" at the end of the year, because there just isn't room for all to be top contributors.
2. The above may not be so disturbing, if only IBM didn't practically cancelled all raises, performance bonuses and incentive for the non top-performers. I've had a consistent "above average" rating in the last 4-5 years, and my raise and performance bonus were ridiculous mere 1.5-2% of my salary. Were I rated "average contributor" I would have gotten NOTHING. So you can imagine that people can go year after year without any raise to their salary.
From talking to manager friend, this is IBM's way to eliminate the non-top-performers without having to fire them, as part of its direction of reducing US manpower.
3. Hiring freeze in many areas - again, as part of IBM's attempt to reduce its workforce across North America and Europe we see many jobs move to the India and Far East markets. This is of course upsetting to see local teams shrink and disappear, especially when many great local IBM colleagues and experts begin to drop out. From my experience thus far working with India SW teams - they are still very far away from the standards I would have expected from US and Europe based teams.
4. Poor top down communication about company's and divisions' future. Employees learn from rumors and news websites what's about to come...
Advice to Management
Management must keep in mind that it today's world, which is saturated with brilliant companies that hire top talent, IBM must remain competitive to attract great talent and hold on to it. In the meanwhile, we're seeing the opposite trend, where great people leave IBM for other companies, be it because of a more competitive package, dropping morale and many other reasons.
Helpful (118)
Application
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at IBM in October 2016.
Interview
They will send an email with an interview link to hirevue. You will have 15 days to finish it but only one chance. There is 13 questions and most of them are technical related instead of general behavioral question(They said general questions in the process explanation email. This general mean general statistics and data analysis questions.)
Interview Questions
