pls give me ur feedback ya. thanks

just wondering you are refering to IBM malaysia? Do IBM malaysia has software developer?

Yeah..IBM Malaysia..I received a phone call from IBM but they said its Senior Software Developer based in Malaysia but not a core developer..its a non core developer

anyone has experience overall working in IBM also can share with me

how bout bonus payout and other benefits?

if its a contractual placement, u can forget about the bonus + benifits

I also got a phone call from IBM - Wireless Software devoloper..

But i declined..

IBM merged with Vallent.. providing some solutions for Wireless Performance management.. GSM ,.. GPRS.. 3G for operators..

I'm not working directly to IBM but due to business need, my com outsource me and few of us to them to help them on their on-hand project.
Doing Struts, Jboss jbpm, Hibernate...
Technologies wise...is quite good but, the people* (esp the management people), is ... freaking pain-in-the-ass type.
I got 1 friend working at IBM as Senior S/w Developer too. He having his tough time due to the fact that, he from diff* background of previous company. A lot of, bad politics surrounding...
As time goes by, he can see few groups* like to kill each other.
I not sure bout others, but my friend is working for them for like...1 year++.

If I accidentally insult anyone of the people of IBM that reading here, sorry. I just wanna share out only.

To be exact, his previous company is same as mine.
- Flexible - We are all grow up people, we trust you and hope you youself will professionally do your job well. When times to work, we work. When times to rest/play, we rest/play: From the CEO.
p/s: And yes, due to the respect, and trust given, most of the time when we reach the office around 9am, instead of heading toward office, we'll heading toward our beloved mamak for breakfast...and guess what, sometimes you will see those top management people there too. We still need our breakfast right?
And when the times needed to rush up our work, we dont feel regret of doing it...OT, even until the next morning..for few weeks down the road.

- Sport club: Work is work, but health is also important. Thats why is good to have a sport club that not just make the gap closer between the higher management people and the staff, but is also good for the health.

- Company event/dinner - 2 months once. Together with briefting from the top management people, esp the CEO and COO, give us some nice talk...really give u the energy and reason why you come to work each day.

- Uniform - formal casual: eg. khakis pant, shirt...but, if there a meeting with customer/partner, then have to wear proper formal working suit.

-etc.

So, in general, from my experience and some info from others of my friend working there, is ... not-a-good-env. But that just from me.

And now I still think that a organisation/com should be that way. At the end, is life.

Just started working in Vallent this week, much higher pay than previous company, but terrible workload, assigned something I don't know how to solve, not much guidance from colleagues and manager. Can't get mentoring or training from them because everybody seems to play politics here!

Wish I can go back to my previous company to relax and get good enough salary, but too late now!

Your company sound like really good working environment, mind to share with us what is your company name?

CrystalFreak,

Me too



This post has been edited by Chester: May 4 2007, 09:17 AM

i'm doing industrial training at IBM.. i know, i'm just an intern and therefore i can't comment 2 much.. anyways, i'm not sure IBM has a software department coz our solutions are from other companies such as SAP and all.. here's more on the hardware site..

btw, i think the staff here is quite nice.. even my supervisor is nice.. IBM is a well known place and is quite established.. so the requirement is quite high 2.. so expect a lot of work 2 b done.. about the dress-code, i don't think it's such a burden.. i rather wear formals then wearing something i wore at uni.. it feels more professional with the working environment.. btw, it's still ok coz tie is not compulsary here..

that's just my 2 cents..

What I hear, there is no development. Is just maintenance and scripting, nothing else. Lot people there dono what is maintenance and development. Lot people are not experienced developers, so who mentor you.

like this kind of job !!!

seem like the developer role in IBM Malaysia is not the one who develop their core product....

IBM is a very big organization. TS is referring to the Malaysia Development Lab.

You will get different opinions from different people on how good or bad it is to work here. As for politics, it varies depending on each team and the manager in charge and if you can do your job well.. you generally don't need to worry about these sort of things.

I don't know about other parts of IBM, but this part is for people who can perform. This is why they do not like to hire fresh grad because they expect people who can do the job with little or not much help. This is why they also gave you a bigger pay check rite?

Regardless of how good or bad you think it is, a software development role in IBM goes a long way on your resume even in the event that you want to pursue other things elsewhere later. I personally don't recommend you giving up so fast, otherwise you will give the impression to future employers that you are unable to perform in a large company such as IBM.

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Added on August 24, 2009, 3:09 pmThis is most likely true for people who work in Plaza IBM where they are not doing development. Software developers in the software development lab does development and have experienced developers. Some are more hardcore than others though.

Microsoft also do not code windows in Malaysia, rite?

This post has been edited by shearmagic: Aug 24 2009, 03:10 PM

if you have the choice, of coz you will prefer to code their core product right.
seem like they still don have the confident on Malaysian.

Well, its easier said then done. I would say that some of the core products are too complicated that attempting to take on this kind of work could be a suicide! If the team is good at handling the non-core areas well, then the more important work will naturally comes along. If the team cannot handle parts of the software correctly, then the team is in trouble. It's better to learn how to walk before how to run. Some other teams in the software development lab is already doing core. There's more than 10 different products with different degree of involvement from the lab.

I can't help you with the department you're applying for, but I can tell you how life in IBM is like. Bear in mind this applies for permanent employees, and applies only to a certain extent for contractors.

1) Flexible working hours
They don't care what time you clock in/clock out as long as you do your 40 hours a week (or whatever hours stipulated in your contract), and as long as you produce results. Of course if you are client facing you will be expected to work the client's hours (i.e. if they start at 8am you start at 8am, this is so you can provide the support to the client when they need you). An unwritten rule is also that you work during business hours (they don't want consultants deciding that they are night owls and prefer to come to work from 3pm to 10pm instead), however your start and end time is flexible to a certain extent.

2) Work-life balance
IBM places an emphasis on work-life balance, and personally I find that it works for me. Work-life balance ensures that the employee doesn't burn out and it helps promote loyalty to the company. For example, a colleague who is a single mother made arrangements with her manager to work from home 2 days a week to care for her daughter. Another colleague, after giving birth, decides to work only part time instead of full time, but she works 5 days a week from 9am to 3pm. There is paternity leave and flexible extended maternity leave for new parents.

3) Training
IBM provides training, both in-house and outsourced. I find that although it is easy getting approval to undertake in-house training, approval for outside training which will cost IBM money is very very difficult to obtain. A good example would be an MBA. It is stated on the website, but don't expect to be sponsored for an MBA if the MBA does not directly relate to your work. For example if you are a software developer, IBM will most likely pay for you to undertake Rational training, but not MBA because you don't need an MBA to do your job. Throughout the 3 years that I have been with this company I have not seen any successful application for an MBA scholarship, this includes higher ranked managers. My guess is that they will only provide this to partners who are heads of sectors or region leaders.

4) Performance measurement
Because of its matrix leadership style, your direct line manager might not be the person monitoring your day to day activities, and therefore cannot be a good judge of your abilities. Therefore IBM have implemented a system called the PBC (Personal Business Commitments) in which your goals are set (by management, not by you) and you are measured against your peers by how well you meet those goals. You are then expected to write a list of your achievements over the year, and why you think you have met or exceeded those goals set by management. Your essay will then be submitted to your direct line manager, who then reviews and submits to their line manager, who then sits on a panel to discuss and compare your submission against others of your peers.

After all that you are given a rank from either 1 (Highly Exceeded Expectations), 2+ (Exceeds Expecations), 2 (Met Expectations), 3 (Did Not Meet Expectations), and 4 (Fail). If you score a 3 or 4, say goodbye to your salary review. You won't even get an increase to meet CPI, so effectively it is a punitive measure, and you can also interpret it as a minor salary cut. If you score 1, 2+ or 2, you will get a salary review and a bonus, depending on whether the company has made a profit.

Obviously employees with rating 1 will get a larger bonus compared with those ranked 2+, etc. However this year because of the GFC, management announced that employees ranked 2 will not get a salary review, a decision many of us think is unfair, especially since the least they could do is give us an increase to meet inflation.

5) Career progression/Promotion
One thing I don't like about this company is the way they chart your progression. This is only for GBS employees only. If one wants to be eligible for promotion, one has to complete a PDF(Personal Development Framework) charting skills and experience gained throughout the year. This is similar to a PBC type essay where you justify your skills and why you should be promoted to the next level.

Your submission will go to a panel where you are again ranked against your peers. If the panel thinks you have gained enough experience and skills, then you level up. Otherwise you stay where you are.

I forgot to mention that each employee is given a band when they start. For example, fresh grads are band 6, 3-5 year experienced employees are band 7, 5-10 years band 8, etc. It goes all the way up to band 10. Bands determine your level in the company, i.e. 6=Consultant, 7=Senior Consultant, 8=Managing Consultant etc. They also determine your salary range; for example a band 6 might draw a salary package anywhere from 40k (low) to 60k (high). A band 7 might draw from 50k (low) to 80k (high). Note how salaries overlap between bands; you can be a band 6 and still earn more than a band 7.

Now here's the thing. From your PDF, you are given an overall level i.e. PDF1, PDF2, PDF3 etc up to PDF5. To get from a band 6 to a band 7 you need an overall PDF3. This PDF level DOES NOT guarantee you an automatic promotion, it simply means you are eligible for promotion subject to availability of places. For example, there might only be a total 100 band 7s at any given time. You will then have to wait until one of the band 7s get promoted, or leave the company, before you can be promoted to a band 7. This creates a lot of competition between peers - say if 10 people who have a PDF3 and are eligible for promotion to band 7, and there is only one spot left, who will get it? The answer is whoever who the big bosses notice the most.

Generally it takes 3 to 5 years to jump from one band to another, but this is not guaranteed.


6) Salary
Salary reviews happen once a year, and are based on a combination of your PDF level, PBC results, and how well you network with your manager. IBM is not noted for their generous salary increases, so don't expect a huge jump in your salary if you haven't been promoted. You get a huge starting pay when you come into the company (to entice you to join the company), but you may get anywhere from 1%-7% salary increase per year if you don't have a band increase. If you do get a band increase, your salary package will increase by a lot to be on par with others the same band as you.

7) Career Opportunities
Again this is for GBS only. GBS employees work on a project basis, and may perform any role in a particular project. You are given the option to state what your preferences are, e.g. if you only want to do development work on a project, however it really depends on what roles are available on any given project. If you want to be a developer, but there are no developer roles on the project you are being considered for, you may have to take something else. The good thing about this is that you get to experience different types of roles so as to give you an idea of what you may want to specialise in later on. The bad thing about it is that if you constantly get the same roles, you may be pigeonholed into that role for most of your career. For example, I wanted to specialise in business analysis, but kept getting testing roles, and after 3 years of testing experience on my CV I am finding it very difficult to be considered for roles other than testing.

If you do keep getting different roles each time though, you may find that after 3 or so years that you have no specialization, or areas of focus, and will be too 'broad' in knowledge to apply for another job outside IBM. For example, a colleague of mine had 6 months of project admin experience, 1 year of testing, 1 year of development, 9 months of business analysis, and 6 months as a junior architect. He is finding it very hard to apply for another job outside IBM because there is no singular area of focus in his CV.

To a certain extent you are also expected to assist your manager in finding yourself another project after you finish off on your current one - and hence you have to network. This creates a bit of a job market within the company/department itself... being that you have to update your CV, be presented for interviews to join another project... it's just like job hunting but within the company. I didn't quite like this idea but that's how GBS works.

darlingangel: great post.. but I'll try to put it into context for the department TS is asking about.

Agreed

Agreed

I find outside training is easier to approve if it is HRDF claimable. You can take MBA if your manager approves it and you are on the mangement line of career path (but I still think it is unlikely). But masters in software engineering for software developer is probably easier to get approved since this department encourages writing of technical papers and patents (which provides very good rewards, all in USD). The benefit of having a fully sponsored masters would be given preferences to high performers and relevancy with the current line of work.

Agreed. Emphasis on performance is based on relative contribution among other peers of equal rank.

PDF does not apply to this department

Agreed (except the PDF part). Mainly depends on how well the person performs, but that is not unexpected

I notice other part of IBM as as per what you mentioned. The software development role is better in that sense because it has a good enough mix to provide new challenges in other area, or to specialize within a specific area if the person so desires.