IBM

Talented, inclusive workforce, true meritocracy.

I've worked for like four teams over the course of my eight years at IBM. I can remember exactly two people that were not great to work with.

IBM, from my experience, encourages creativity, values the individual, and promotes team cohesion.

Sure, I would rather make six figures selling umbrella drinks at a tiki bar, but this is unlikely. I have no plans of leaving IBM and see only growth both for me and the company. They are really making amazing strides in AI, Cloud, and Cybersecurity, and I kind of want to have some small part of this success.

BIG company that entered the Cloud space fairly late compared to AWS, Google, etc. Sometimes old patterns of thinking have to be challenged, which would not even exist in a smaller, newer company. That said, IBM has made big moves in adopting agile practices.

Another con is that this is a VERY big pond, so if you want to get recognized for your contributions, just make sure you are working in an area that the C-levels really care about. If what you love to do is just something that is considered an unfortunate necessity of business, then it is unlikely you can make a big splash.

I have found it easy to share these concerns with my management and was pleasantly surprised when I was engaged in more high-visibility opportunities. But of course, then you have to really perform!

Great ideas come not only from senior devs, engineers, etc. The folks actually dealing with supporting projects, processes, products, and customers definitely have vital information for long-term success. Keep engaging these resources early when considering new offerings, changes, etc. Keep focused on customer experience and put real executive governance behind it to achieve real results.