As you are probably aware, I landed a job at IBM while I was in school last year. Well, about a week after I got back from Australia and New Zealand, it was time for me to start. In a company of nearly 300,000 people, or roughly the population of Iceland, there is obviously a tremendous hierarchy. To provide some perspective, I am in the Global Services business unit, which now makes up over half of IBM. Within that unit, I am in Application Services, in the Portals, Content, and e-Commerce practice area. My job falls under the e-commerce piece of that practice area. My primary job role is Java development, specifically in the e-commerce realm, though it is likely that my first project or two will not be e-commerce.
Anyway, my first week on the job was spent in D.C. (well, actually a suburb in Virginia) for onboarding and new-hire training. I had never been to D.C. before, so it was fun. I did get to go into town one afternoon and see all of the monuments. And, of course, I did bring my camera, and though I have a bunch of pictures, I have not gotten around to posting them yet (nor the Australia and New Zealand pictures). After a week of training, I finally got to go home. Unfortunately, I was only there for a day, as that following Sunday I made my way back to the east coast - this time to Philadelphia. I was in Philly for a total ten days. The first day I was exhausted from traveling, so I mostly just hung around in the hotel. The next five days were dedicated to new college hire training. During that time, we learned more about some of the IBM tools and methods, as well as general consulting topics. As I had a free weekend in Philly, I did roam around the city quite a bit. I had been to Philly before, though just for a day when I went on my road trip to NYC earlier in the summer. At any rate, in my tour of the city I did manage to catch the new Simpsons movie, as well as meander through South Philly. The next two days were full of more training, and then I got to come home, where I shall remain until I can find my first project.