IBM vs Countrwide

[Vikash Prasad]

Hi
I have two offers currently with IBM india and Countrywide Finance(india). IBM is a brand in IT industry and Countrywide is a big finance company.Also the Countrwide is paying me 80000 pa higher than IBM. I have a total of 3.8 years of exp. on j2ee technology. Can anyone please suggest me which company to join ??

[Prakash Dwivedi]

I recommend that you join IBM. Not only that IBM is a big brand, it also provides lots of trainings (IBM encourages its employees to undergo lots of technical / non technical training) which will help you in building your career in the long run.

[Vikash Prasad]

I appreciate your reply . But the thing is that financial company are growing much faster than any other IT industry. Also I will get the domain which I think after 3.8 yrs of exp is necessary. IBM has a brand but I will not visible there. and there appraisals and salary are much less.
Any comments...

[Prakash Dwivedi]

Originally posted by Vikash Prasad:
I appreciate your reply . But the thing is that financial company are growing much faster than any other IT industry. Also I will get the domain which I think after 3.8 yrs of exp is necessary. IBM has a brand but I will not visible there. and there appraisals and salary are much less.
Any comments...

You can be domain expert in IBM as well. As IBM Global Services provides services to different domains like finance, telecom, healthcare, insurance etc it has lots of domain expert within IBM. In fact IBM allows its employees to decide whether they want to become technology expert or domain export. IBM India is handling many banking projects (ex Development Bank of Singapore). So even after joining IBM you can become domain expert. But this doesn't mean that soon after joining you can demand a project of your choice that will happen only if you decide to stay in IBM for reasonable amount of time.

IBM India has observed an exponential growth in last couple of years. Hence visibility could be a concern (especially if your companies were relatives small), but learning to get yourself visible in a crowd is an art which you can learn, only by being a part of some large organization.

As for appraisal is concern it is directly related to your performance. But in all your overall CTC will be (10-15%) less than the market. But again IBM provides lots of opportunities / platform to appreciate and reward innovative ideas.

Here let me clarify that my view will be slightly biased towards IBM as I do not have much information about Countrywide Finance.

[vipul patel]

I belive you should join contrywide because its purely financial company. i had offer from countrywide too. but apparently i had to go overseas so couldn't join it.

[M Movilogo]

Nowadays every tom, dick, harry works in either TCS/Wipro/Infy/IBM.
These companies do not carry weightage any more.

[Mohan Karthick]

Here we go..

IBM good for training, ambience and repo.
But they domain..don't where u land up..which project etc...

SO domain is your main concern then go with country wide.

[Jason Cox]

Originally posted by M Movilogo:
Nowadays every tom, dick, harry works in either TCS/Wipro/Infy/IBM.
These companies do not carry weightage any more.

Maybe it works differently in India, but I know that having certain employers on your resume is practically a rite of passage in the US. For example, in Dallas a lot of developers I worked with have passed through companies like Sprint, IBM, The Associates, and Citigroup just to name a few.

Being part of a large company is sometimes taken by future employers as a sign you can work in a large organization in a structured environment. That may not necessarily be true, but they may imply it from your resume.

Large != Irrelevant

[Arjunkumar Shastry]

Mainly it depends on the attitude of an employee.In large organizations,there is a tendency of being lethargic than small companies where manager stands behind you every evening asking for status of the work.!
Indian(or Indian subcontinent to be specific) culture is slow compared to other continents.So chances be being slow are much more in big organizations in India.It takes speed if people find The Leader or The Boss.Things are changing due to impact of globalization.
[ April 19, 2006: Message edited by: Arjunkumar Shastry ]

[M Movilogo]

Simple thumb rule-

In smaller companies, you'll rise up ladders much faster. With 2 years you can become manager. Where as in large mainstream companies, you'll remain team member even after 5 years.

Now choose what you want to do. In large companies, life is pretty smooth, you get paid less but you have more hours to yourself, less weekends on office.

[Abhijit Kumar]

Originally posted by M Movilogo:
Simple thumb rule-

In smaller companies, you'll rise up ladders much faster. With 2 years you can become manager. Where as in large mainstream companies, you'll remain team member even after 5 years.

Now choose what you want to do. In large companies, life is pretty smooth, you get paid less but you have more hours to yourself, less weekends on office.

Large (I prefer saying BIG) companies pay much better then small or mid size companies.My experience regarding weekends is opposite here...I spend my weekends in company (a big MNC)

[Pradeep bhatt]

Originally posted by Prakash Dwivedi:


You can be domain expert in IBM as well. As IBM Global Services provides services to different domains like finance, telecom, healthcare, insurance etc it has lots of domain expert within IBM. In fact IBM allows its employees to decide whether they want to become technology expert or domain export. IBM India is handling many banking projects (ex Development Bank of Singapore). So even after joining IBM you can become domain expert. But this doesn't mean that soon after joining you can demand a project of your choice that will happen only if you decide to stay in IBM for reasonable amount of time.

IBM India has observed an exponential growth in last couple of years. Hence visibility could be a concern (especially if your companies were relatives small), but learning to get yourself visible in a crowd is an art which you can learn, only by being a part of some large organization.

As for appraisal is concern it is directly related to your performance. But in all your overall CTC will be (10-15%) less than the market. But again IBM provides lots of opportunities / platform to appreciate and reward innovative ideas.

Here let me clarify that my view will be slightly biased towards IBM as I do not have much information about Countrywide Finance.

I have heard that IBM pay is poor , less % hikes and bad work culture atleast in India.

:roll:

[Vikash Prasad]

Thanks for all your replies. Presently I decided to join IBM. I dnt know whether its a good decision or bad.
To get into a good project is all luck. I hope I will get a chance to work on a good project in IBM. In countrywide there is more support work and in IBM even if i get a support work the brand will attach will me.
I know the pay and appraisals are poor in IBM but I believe after getting 2 yrs of experience in IBM , I may switch to another a job with a very good hike. .
waiting for your comments.....!

[Pradeep bhatt]

Originally posted by Vikash Prasad:
Thanks for all your replies. Presently I decided to join IBM. I dnt know whether its a good decision or bad.
To get into a good project is all luck. I hope I will get a chance to work on a good project in IBM. In countrywide there is more support work and in IBM even if i get a support work the brand will attach will me.
I know the pay and appraisals are poor in IBM but I believe after getting 2 yrs of experience in IBM , I may switch to another a job with a very good hike. .
waiting for your comments.....!

How much is IBM offereing you ?

[Nageswar Kakolla]

Hey Movilogo ,

U language is some what offending to current/ex Infosys employees as u are using "every tom/dick/hary works in TCS/IBM/infosys/Wipro" etc but I am not saying whether they are good companies or not but u cant say every tom/dick/hary are working in those companies. U can insult company but not people who worked/working there.

[Vikash Prasad]

Hi pradip
The company is paying me average salary i.e between 4.3 - 5.0 lpa