I interviewed with IBM employees at the East Lansing office who have similar developer skills.

More than one employee cautioned me against working here, stating that the East Lansing Michigan Development Center functions as an in-house temp agency for IBM. They reported that morale was very low, and this location is only an option if staying in the Lansing area is mandatory.

I was told that an individual's career is secondary to the goals of the leadership team, who appear to serve themselves. There is no one to discuss career goals with, as the primary focus is the hourly "utilization rate." A recurring comment was that the managers here are terrible leaders and could care less about their people. Turnover is very high due to the poor treatment of employees.

These managers, referred to as "Blue Managers," apparently dismiss questions or concerns from their direct reports, seemingly only concerned with the number of hours worked per week. One person mentioned meeting their manager only two or three times in three years. This manager conducts the yearly review but has no understanding of what the employee worked on throughout the year.

This office seems unusual. No one has permanent seating, and employees are grouped by skills in an open, loud, call center-like area. There are no free amenities like coffee or other perks, except for occasional scraps after leadership meetings. Unlike typical IBM offices, there are no company events or activities.

Employee policies here differ from those at other IBM locations. It's important to inquire about this, as one person was directly misled when the issue was raised.

One woman shared that after becoming ill and taking a week off for sick days, her manager informed her that she would have to make up every hour missed by working nights and weekends. The minimum hours that can be billed here is 45 per week, not including administrative tasks assigned by a manager, such as mandatory training, which are additional to the 45 hours.

Vacation days require three to four months' notice. Advancement opportunities are limited to those related to billable hours, and there are no positions to advance to within East Lansing.

A family friend retired from IBM and mentioned that it's possible to transfer after one year of employment. However, this does not seem to apply to employees here, as no one had heard of this policy or knew of anyone who had successfully transferred.

What project experience do you have from school?

What kind of projects did you work on?