Ok so this is the first in a possible series (no guarantees) about what it’s like to work at IBM. This is going to be a brief table of pro’s and cons (there are always cons no matter how great a company).
Pros
- Shiny new laptop (1.6Ghz 2Gb RAM Thinkpad T60p)
- Excellent IT support
- Linux IT support
- Think free friday (do you own stuff on friday afternoon)
- A group of Linux types for me to get to know via IRC
- The ability to install Linux on my Thinkpad and do all my work under Linux!!
- Flexi time so you can only work 4 days a week if you want
Cons
- No kettles :( We microwave water to make it hot for coffee and tea
- Crazy ass security!! I have 5 or 6 passwords – all 8 character alphanumeric – my head hurts
- No good map tool for the site. The site is massive and complex, my think friday project is to make this better
So there we have it – my one week assessment. As you can probably tell I’m having a great time :)
Really enjoyed this since I can relate … am starting to work at IBM on 1 Dec (moving to IBM as part of an outsourced deal).
At least we have a kettle here — even a peculator to have brewed coffee and no big complex to get lost in. So look like the only Con I will be sharing with you is the security
The Hursley maps tool is great! How can you say it isn’t good?!
Passwords, look for TAM ESSO internally, can help.
John – I’m down in Chichester on Saturday for a wedding, I’ll wave as I go past Southampton!