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Sorry to take a tangent here: Curious what you'd say about someone who is moving to NYC and thinking about what kind of work to find. Formerly worked for one of

by redwood 15y ago

Sorry to take a tangent here: Curious what you'd say about someone who is moving to NYC and thinking about what kind of work to find. Formerly worked for one of the big SV tech companies in a project management role. Would love to work for a smaller company now but there aren't as many tech startups in NYC so perhpas IBM is the best bet. How do you like working there all in all? I understand hierarchy and bureaucracy are the name of the game back east, especially at big blue, but I suspect this will be nothing new... and that SV just claims to be more flat. But would love to hear your perspective and whether it's fulfilling in your org.

Drakim 15y ago
There is a horrible amount of waste because of the many levels of management. The higher ups often push software changes on us because of some agenda (it was developed in-house) when the software is very inferior and will hurt our productivity greatly. IBM tries very hard to encourage us to participate and let our voices be heard, but in my experience anything that takes time, effort or money is ignored, making the whole thing a silly puppet show. I'm leaving the job soon because of things like this. I absolutely hate it when people say "such overhead is inevitable within such a big organization" because it's become an excuse for EVERYTHING. You wouldn't believe the sort of things we spend weeks on doing that should take minutes. We are talking manually renaming files and proccessing log files, because the "budget for such changes is already used up" or some other bullshit. There is no ridiculous mind-numbingly slow process that isn't justified by the fact that the organizational aspect is in the way. I think it's become a warm blanket that managers can wrap around themselves to avoid taking responsibility.
- redwood 15y ago
  Sorry to hear, sounds like some of the major negatives I experienced in Silicon Valley. Nevertheless all companies have their healthy and unhealthy divisions and practices. Presumably someone is doing something right to pay for everyone else. We'll see if they continue to stay in the game. Thanks for the info! I guess the NYC job market's a tough one especially for tech.

by redwood 15y ago

Drakim 15y ago

There is a horrible amount of waste because of the many levels of management. The higher ups often push software changes on us because of some agenda (it was developed in-house) when the software is very inferior and will hurt our productivity greatly. IBM tries very hard to encourage us to participate and let our voices be heard, but in my experience anything that takes time, effort or money is ignored, making the whole thing a silly puppet show. I'm leaving the job soon because of things like this. I absolutely hate it when people say "such overhead is inevitable within such a big organization" because it's become an excuse for EVERYTHING. You wouldn't believe the sort of things we spend weeks on doing that should take minutes. We are talking manually renaming files and proccessing log files, because the "budget for such changes is already used up" or some other bullshit. There is no ridiculous mind-numbingly slow process that isn't justified by the fact that the organizational aspect is in the way. I think it's become a warm blanket that managers can wrap around themselves to avoid taking responsibility.

redwood 15y ago
Sorry to hear, sounds like some of the major negatives I experienced in Silicon Valley. Nevertheless all companies have their healthy and unhealthy divisions and practices. Presumably someone is doing something right to pay for everyone else. We'll see if they continue to stay in the game. Thanks for the info! I guess the NYC job market's a tough one especially for tech.