IBM

Great people.

Decent benefits (though not what they once were).

Reliable employer (the company isn't going to go away any time soon).

Good work/life balance (you go to your kids' soccer games).

I came to IBM through an acquisition. When we were acquired, we were told about all of the great opportunities that IBM had to offer. There were sessions about advancing your career, about moving into new job roles, about becoming master inventors or senior scientists.

In the end, it was all bull. The opportunities to move up or move into new domains are few and far between, and really come down to patronage and who you know.

Most people are pigeonholed, working the same job, keeping their heads down, and hoping their product or team remain intact until they retire.

Business decisions are arbitrary and based completely on short-term results. Unless you work on a few blessed products, there is little to no innovation. And when you do innovate, opportunists step in and take over the product, driving out the people who did the original work (example: Watson).

IBM used to have a reputation as a great place to work. Let's make that the focus again.