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I’m about to start an internship at IBM for UX Research. I’m super excited about it, and was wondering if anyone could tell me about the design culture there or how the company is for designers? So far online I’ve only heard about the company from consultants or software engineers. For more reference I’ll be working in Austin.
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Having worked at both big and small, here is my assessment:
Big agencies = bureaucracy and politics but the pay and benefits tend to be better. Small agencies = better culture and the ability to be more nimble but the pay tends to be less. It’s really easy to get lost at a big agency and have less impact but if you can stomach the politics, the upward career trajectory is better and you’ll be better off financially. On the flip side, culture is important and smaller agencies may build your portfolio faster with more interesting work. (Not to say you can’t do great work at a big agency)
Agree with SVP Strategy above. The other thing I’ll add is that at smaller agencies you’ll get a chance to work on a lot of different types of projects. Bigger agencies tend to have very specific swim lanes. You have your job and you do your job, and you don’t do somebody else’s job.
Better pay, worse benefits. Bigger opportunities, smaller chance of touching them. Marginally better hours, but treated with less respect. More layers. More bureaucracy. Less fun perks.
Bureaucracy.