IBM

Looks good on a resume, but do not look to this company for any long-term employment.

If you work in sales, you can be in a position to earn a lot of money.

If you are in the technical ranks, you will have exposure to some interesting technologies.

If you are interested in management, you could make a good career at IBM if you can learn to manage upward, never make waves, never challenge directives issued by managers above you, and always tell managers above you that they are doing a terrific job.

If you are in the technical area, you can tell your manager you are accomplishing goals that you are not reaching, as they do not seem to check unless you do something that may make them look bad to their manager.

Technical people are treated as if they are a dime a dozen, while managers are thought of as non-replaceable, regardless of whether they are competent or not.

The current philosophy within the company is to manage upward. Do not challenge directives, regardless of how dumb they might be. Do not make any kind of waves.

As managers, they surround themselves with people that will only agree with their positions and ideas.

There is no medical coverage for any family member unless that family member existed before the company dropped covering any new family members (wife, husband, child).

The retirement plan is non-existent unless you qualify for the previous retirement plan (and few do).

The technical people are considered a necessary evil and are encouraged to look for jobs elsewhere after a few years so that they do not have to pay technical people what they are worth.

The lower managers are poorly trained in management and not involved in what their employees are doing. Most are looking out only for their careers and could care less about their employees or the products being produced.

Start treating your technical employees as the valuable assets that they are. Remember, no product is shipped without the technical people creating the product (not the management team).