Pros: The name goes a long way. IBM's clients are very impressive.

Cons: Having a distributed workforce makes it very hard to get things done, unless you enjoy sitting on conference calls or chatting on SameTime all day long.

Pros: The individuals at the company are quite knowledgeable, given that they have been there for a long amount of time. You get access to the large library of technical information in a variety of fields.

Cons: I have been with the company for a little over one year, and I will tell you exactly what I have gone through. In the title, I said that it comes with a steep price. Turns out, I am not even making one fourth of what my client is being billed for hourly. My annual salary is 40k, and IBM kind of knows that fresh graduates will fall for it, so they lowball you. Second, I am an individual who cannot sit steady and likes to keep progressing and learning new things. IBM is not the place if you are expecting to progress or develop your career. You are treated as a disposable asset, where if one leaves, another takes their place. I like to take on challenges, but after a couple of months, the work gets stale, as there is nothing challenging about it. It's more like a daily chore where you don't get to learn much, or you get placed on a project where the team lead has no idea what is going on. Believe me, I have been through both scenarios. After a year, I really think that rather than being able to progress on my career path, it went backward. You may ask why I stay if I hate it? Well, I am not here for long, only until the end of Dec 2014, and then I am out. :)

Pros: They'll hire just about anyone who has the word "Java" on their resume. Fairly laid-back atmosphere. Great for a first job out of college. Chance to get real industry experience with Fortune 500 companies. Great benefits on day 1.

Cons: Lowest salaries in the field. Overtime exempt. Clients can be downright abusive (in terms of work/life balance) and give impossible deadlines. I know people who have been flown to a client site and worked 10+ hour days every day for a month, and only got to fly back for a day and a half to see their families.