IBM

A lot of opportunities for the entrepreneur mindset. You can build your network internally and go in any direction you want, with all the resources you need to be successful.

The reporting structure doesn't always match the reality, so your job can be impacted by things not related to your day-to-day contributions. For instance, I worked in the Life Sciences vertical but was assigned to Telecom/Tech. And when the Telco department had layoffs, I was impacted – however, I haven't been on a Telco project in 10 years. I've been deep in LS for almost a decade!

Management structure is highly decentralized and localized to the quirks of local partners and managers. Since I left IBM, I went to Accenture, and their approach to process and structure is a total 180. In some ways, it can be limiting, but in other ways, expectations are much easier managed.