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IBM Consulting not what it's cut out to be

IBM / IT Specialist / Chicago, IL job review

2005 to 2006
"Best job in life"
Well after an internship with IBM, I was enamored and I hopped into full time IBM with high expectations. IBM was shifting toward a consulting company, so why not shift toward where the action is? The issue with IBM consulting is you are not guaranteed positions even when you are in it. Once you entered IBM, you need to apply for consulting positions within IBM, if you're not good, you could stay on the 'bench' and that's bad because you have to have minimum number of billed hours. Luckily for me, I got pulled to a group of people and I consistently billed hours. The problem is I wanted to travel, meet people, but because of my technical skills, I essentially did software engineering. So without being in the same area as the other people, I was coding features that the software team didn't have time to do but the consulting side wanted. So I was working with a software team in Raleigh, North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania. I have nothing against coding, but that's not what I signed up for. I wanted to meet people, clients, and gain experience. (not be stuck at home coding). Oh and working from home sounds great in theory, you end up working more because you're constantly on sametime (instant messenging) and your boss IM/emails you at 8pm.
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8 Comments

gordony July 24, 2008
Saw that you only worked there one year and then leave. Is that because you're doing just coding and not really consulting? Or are there other issues?
greatdaytoday03 July 24, 2008
yeah basically i wasn't "consulting." Part of the reason I got pulled on to a project so quickly was because of my technical skills, so I decided to go to grad school instead. As for other issues, most ibm consulting is not in the office anymore, you get laptops and you can stay at home if you want and you don't really know anyone at the local "mobile office" because most of the people you work with are geographically located in other places. That, not really meeting anyone throughout the entire day, really did it. I have to say, I did not enjoy the experience.
bl612 July 25, 2008
is software engineering background necessary for IBM consulting? and for people who came out of a CS background. Can they in anyway avoid becoming a coder but do actual consulting on a team?
greatdaytoday03 August 25, 2008
software engineering background isn't necessary for IBM Consulting. The people who were in training w/ me had backgrounds from banking, supply chain, HCI, business. For people that came out of a CS background, the answer is complicated. What happens is after you become a 'consultant' you have to apply to internal projects. So you're constantly applying for projects and if the PM wants you they'll want you for your background. If you came from a cs background, most likely the way they can use you is in a software engineering role. That's what happened with me, but it's not necessarily always the case. Depending on the projects you get on, you'll get necessary experience to branch out to other types of engagements.
brianT August 26, 2008
hm...interesting, so looks like it the CS background is in a way a drag. Guess it takes some luck to branch out then.
greatdaytoday03 August 27, 2008
It's not that bad, there's a ton of online and offline courses training that you can take to branch out, but those take time. If you're technical, you can branch into ERP systems which will can lead you to some supply chain and other Business Consulting Services, but if you're non-technical, there's absolutely no way you can go the opposite way.
aved September 10, 2008
It's interesting that you're looking for the traveling, which is the most dreadful part for the consultants. Wonder what's the compensation/bonus like on the consulting side?
greatdaytoday03 September 22, 2008
One of the main benefits you get from any job is the camaraderie you get from working with other people on a day to day basis and learning from other people through person to person interactions. Although face time isn't crucial and not totally necessary, just interacting with other people through IM, phone, and email doesn't cut it for me. There's nothing that beats being able to walk over to another person's place to talk over some issues. Theoretically, virtual workplaces should work, but in practice it led to huge software integration problems. There were three major development centers for the software we were building and when it came time to merge branches, there were major headaches. For me traveling is really a proxy of being able to work with other people in a live environment. Compensation always depends :) and bonuses were based on performance.
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