IBM and other IT companies in New Zealand

Yesterday was my last day with IBM. I started with them on Feb 10 as a Graduate Consultant so I had been with the company for 6 months. Right through the course of my university studies I have been hearing about how small the NZ market is and about the lack of real challenging and interesting opportunities for the grads. Now that I have gone through the full cycle of applying for jobs, receiving an offer, working for a NZ IT company–and I do categorise IBM NZ as a NZ company because I know IBM US and IBM Australia are quite different from IBM NZ–and resigning from it, I now fully understand exactly how “small” the NZ market is for the grads.

Please note that this is not a blog about how much I hated IBM. Although, the fact that I have resigned does indicate that I did not fully enjoy the type of work I was given, I do think that IBM is a very good company and the people there were nothing but nice, caring and supportive. Therefore, my opinions are, on the surface, about IBM NZ but on a much deeper level it is directed to the NZ IT market as a whole.

The first problem is the limited number of companies for which the graduates can apply. For those of us that enjoy coding, large international companies are not an option. The well-known companies that we would like to work for such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Oracle, Sun etc do not have proper development houses in New Zealand; the work is outsourced to countries like India and they simply bring in the existing software packages and market the product and do some integration work. To be clear, I have not worked for Microsoft, SAP, Oracle and Sun so I do not claim to know what I say to be absolutely true but based on what I have heard from people who have worked there, and assuming that they are not too much different from IBM–since they operate in the same industry and economy–I can safely generalise.

If these large international companies are not an option, where else can you go? I did a summer internship with Orion Health a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it. The working environment was relaxed and the type of work that I was doing was actually technically challenging. There are many small development houses like Orion Health–although Orion Health is a very big company by NZ standards–that you can work for. I personally do not think it is wise to start off your career working for small companies. However, given that you are a grad in NZ you may not have too many choices.

The second problem is the type of work you will be given. As an employee of a well-recognised technology company I expected to do a lot of technically challenging work. However, during my employment the most technically challenging task I have carried out was writing simple Excel macros. It is unrealistic to expect to do something amazingly interesting and challenging from day one but looking at the guys who have been with the company for 1 to 2 years, I see no real difference in the work they do and the work I did as a grad. To be honest, if I did not get a job offer from another company I would have stayed with IBM. I tried telling myself every day that if I could endure this period of performing boring and random tasks then I could be promoted in a few years and then finally I will be able to do something interesting. However, I also knew that if I were to be promoted I had to prove that I am more capable than my peers but if my work only involved writing Excel macros and creating PowerPoint slides, I did not see how I could possibly set myself apart from the rest–after all, any smart university student could do the things I was doing.

There are, of course, good things about working for big companies. IBM is internationally recognised so it meant I could go anywhere in the world and people would instantly know that I am a smart and capable IT professional. Grad Blue, the all-expense-paid 5-week induction and training program for IBM GBS grads, was absolutely amazing. I loved it.

If you are a NZ university student considering a career in IT, my advice is this. Firstly, If you are a top student with a high GPA, do all you can to secure a job in bigger markets such as US or Australia. Like I said before, the kinds of work you would do as a grad in IBM US would be much different from the work you would do as a IBM NZ grad. Secondly, if you want to stay in NZ, do consider big companies first. Maybe it is a bit hypocritical for me to advise to work for big companies in NZ after pointing out all the downsides, but I still think it is better than starting off your career with smaller companies. You can always go from big companies to small ones, but it is much more difficult to go the other way.

Just in closing, I had such high expectations about the life after graduation. Now I know that I was not being realistic. Therefore, it is important to find a balance so you can be ambitious, while being realistic.

Google Associate Product Manager

After 3 months of interview process, I finally got the offer!
It was a long process but I’m sure it’s all worth it.

Consequently, I submitted my resignation letter to IBM today.
Kinda weird that I’m quitting when everyone else is busy looking for jobs.

I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about the actual interview questions but I will say that I found every aspect of the process very challenging and fun. It was a great experience and I’m really glad that the outcome was positive.

Happiness…

This is a post “in progress”…

Dan Gilbert – TED Presentation

winning lottery VS becoming paraplegic

They are equally happy with their lives after 1 year.

Impact bias: Tendency to overestimate the hedonic impact of future events. elections, romance, promotions, exams, medical conditions, sporting events, discriminations, weight loss etc… Basically people overestimate the effects of impact.

Major life trauma, after 3 months, has no effect on happiness.

 Synthetic happiness:

1. Jim Wright: Chairman of House of Representatives. Resigned in disgrace when people found out about his shady book deal. He lost everything. “I am so much better off physically, financially, mentally and in almost every way.”
2. Moreese Bickham: “I don’t have one minute’s regret. It was a glorious experience.” spent 37 years in Louisiana state penitentry for a crime he didn’t commit. Was released when he was 78 after a DNA testing.
3. Pete Best “I’m happier than I would have been with the Beatles.” The original beatles drummer.

Grief process

This is so true… I didn’t know someone had defined this process

1. Denial

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

finding myself

I’ve come across a personality description that, in my view, describes me aptly. Sadly, there is no suggestion on how to improve…

 

Abrasive Characteristics

“They are driven, above all, by a strong need for perfection. They push themselves to reach their unrealistic aspirations; they attempt to match their current self-image to the person they would like to be. Despite all their efforts, however, they are unable to live up to their own expectations and experience a mounting sense of frustration, which evokes aggressive feelings. The strenth of these aggressive feelings is determined by the size of the discrepency between where they feel they are and where they would like to be. However, because they have such exaggerated standards for themselves, they are never able to completely close the perceived gap. Eventually, their anger and aggression can no longer be contained. Like water surging through a broekn dam, their hostility and aggression spill over, directed toward colleagues and subordinates, familiy, and friends.

The abrasive personatlity is uaually highly intelligent, possesses excellent problem-solving skills, is quick at grasping situations, and is adept at finding the right solutions. This is one of the reasons why poeple with this personaltity can frequently be found in senior executive positions. Their intelligence and quick wit, however, are often accompanied by impatience, a degree of arrogance, and alakc of interpersonal skills. These executives are intensely rivalrous; they know their own abilities and do not trust other to possess equal capabilties. By showing open contempt for other, abrasive people create in subordinates feelings of inadequacy that destroy their self-confidence and lead to the elimination of whatever initiative and ideas these subordinates might have had. Also apparent is the abrasive’s tendency to dominate, prompted by a strong need for control of both self and others.

Abrasive personalities often show signs or “reactive narcissism” – signs such as emotional coldness, grandiosity, vindictiveness, and a sense of entitlement. Because phase-appropriate development did not occur when these individuals were growing up, many acquired a defective, poorly integrated sense of identity, leading to an unstable sense of self-esteem. Early frustration may have created a legacy of bitterness, making for vindcitiveness as a personaltiy characteristic. Thus, apart fomr being forever frustrated in what they set out to do, for some of them there is also the sense of getting even for the wrongs they feel they have experienced. They have learned their aggresive tactics from others, especially their parents or other caretakers, who may have used severe disciplinary measures to tame their offspring. They have experienced that coercion is the way to get other people to do what they want. As a result, their behaviour can be very explosive. Furthermore, they see themselves as special and feel that they deserve to be treated differently from others. They believe that the boundaries of proper behaviour do not apply to them. Frequently, other are viewed as extensions of themselves, as devices for their own self-aggrandizement, to be freely and legitimately used for their own purposes.”

Starting

Starting my weblog today…