IBM Damastown - graduate Software Engineer

Joza

Hi guys.

I've been offered a graduate role at IBM Damastown as a Student ICT Software Engineer. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience here and can let me know what to expect? What's the workload, work environment like? What are IBM'ers like to work with?

I'll be starting at 8:30am and will have to commute but I'm not driving. I'm guessing the 7:45am Express Coach from O'Connell street is intended for this shift?

Any info at all would be great!

Cheers!

kevohmsford

Congrats on the job. Great place to work indeed.

I worked there until last summer. I was not in Software but great people to work with. A good few people commute from town. You will be in Building 6 I would say which got done up recently.

There is a games room which the Software people used a lot.

Joza

What was your role, do you mind me asking?

How did you find the work environment and so on?

My contract says I only get a 30 min break, and 8:30 to 5pm days...I was thinking it's a little harsh but maybe not! Maybe that's the norm for graduates

BurnsCarpenter

Joza wrote: »

What was your role, do you mind me asking?

How did you find the work environment and so on?

My contract says I only get a 30 min break, and 8:30 to 5pm days...I was thinking it's a little harsh but maybe not! Maybe that's the norm for graduates

That's the norm in a lot of workplaces, graduate or not. Plus two 15 minute breaks of course.

Well done, I applied for the graduate positions in Cork but didn't make it to interview stage.

Joza

I guess you're right.

Has anyone an idea of what to expect as a new graduate employee, like training, orientation and so on?

Everything In Its Right Place

Hi I was wondering what the interview process was like for a graduate?

B000

Everything In Its Right Place wrote: »

Hi I was wondering what the interview process was like for a graduate?

Phone interview first and then face-to-face interview.

B000

@Joza

Just wondering how long you waited after second interview, if it's not a secret.
Thank you.

Everything In Its Right Place

Thanks also was there any coding tests?

B000

Everything In Its Right Place wrote: »

Thanks also was there any coding tests?

Yes. One general knowledge test (15 mins) and one Java test (20 mins). They were both multi-choice questions.

FURET

Joza wrote: »

My contract says I only get a 30 min break, and 8:30 to 5pm days...I was thinking it's a little harsh but maybe not! Maybe that's the norm for graduates

I worked for IBM and now work for another well-known large software company.
On paper, these times etc are specified. But in the real world, companies like IBM, SAP, Oracle and Microsoft trust you to do what's best and make your own hours.

For example, you don't clock in and you don't clock out. You decide when you go for a break. No one should be watching you. I take lots of breaks whenever I like. My team and I often grab a coffee and use the coffee corner to plan what we're going to do or how to solve problems. I come into the office any time between 8:30 and 10:30 and leave any time between 4:30 and 9pm. Sometimes I work from home. It really depends on the day and the timezones that I need to work with.
IBM have a flexitime policy (at least in Cork), so I wouldn't worry about anything if I were you. Just do your work, be proactive, kick-start initiatives, volunteer, and learn as much as you can. That way you'll quickly get noticed for all the right reasons.

melon_collie

My brother works in IBM and from what I hear they are pretty good to work for in terms of working hours. They also seem to look favourably on people who look for the possibility of working from home. If you become an established employee and prove yourself this may become an option to you if you want it.

Joza

To those asking about the interview, I only had one. I got a call from the department manager to simply come in for the face to face interview. It was with the manager himself and two other software engineers. I felt the interview was tough to be honest, a bit of a grilling. On top of that I had two multiple-choice tests as someone else mentioned.

I got a call two days later and was offered the job. I'll admit I was surprised considering I tripped myself up explaining one thing (and felt I made myself look like an idiot, but in hindsight, maybe not) and couldn't answer some of the engineers' technical questions. The questions varied from my knowledge of UNIX systems, the command line, to Java.

Somehow I must have made a good impression considering I got the call two days later. So to anyone doing the interview, even if you felt it didn't go too good as I did, relax, you probably did much better than you think! Just be honest, don't try to bull**** anything...if you don't know the answer, just say so. And be able to have a laugh...I think fundamentally, and the manager alluded to it, they just want to see if you are a nice, decent person that they can work with. They can always train you on what you don't know.