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What's It Like Working For Worldcom?
Tetch asks: "I work for a multinational IT company which seems likely to transfer its "network services" team to (MCI-)Worldcom under the terms of a business arrangement (Worldcom's gonna run our company network for us). I'm contemplating transfering from my current position to that network services team but would quite like to know more about Worldcom's corporate culture before taking the plunge (since it seems I'd become a Worldcom employee in fairly short order). Does anyone have any experience of life at Worldcom they could share?" It's always smart to try get an idea of the climate in a company before you you try and sign up.
"Is it all white shirts, and singing the company song at 07:00, or is it T-shirts, jeans, company masseur and free donuts ? Do they work you into the ground till you burn out and then cast you aside with the trash, or do they look after you, nurture your career, notice your contribution without you having to sing your own praises the whole time. Are Worldcom folk *happy* and enthusiastic, content to be a valued part of a committed team effort, or are they cogs in a faceless machine, living in isolation and fear of visits from beancounters looking for yet more cost-savings to make for the stock-holders' benefit?"
Besides being a totally irrelevant article:
Getting info about an employer from a discussion board tends to only draw out the people who want to bitch about it (and all companies have disgruntled employees with horror stories). If you really want to know, go visit the place. Insist on getting walked around before the interview to observe and see if it seems like the sort of environment you'd want to be in.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
They are making their money off of consultants they hire out. If you wait for an account for you, you are costing them money and with the current times you are likely to get cut. So, before you move, make sure you are covered for a good while before you 'move on to another project' and end up weighting down a bench.
See if you can get your 'years of service' in your current company moved to worldcom (hard since its not a buy out) because there are certain benefits that will only kick in with extended time behind out.
As for worldcom themselves as an ISP, they aren't the best, but definitely not the worst.
-Kelt
My intelligence insults itself.
If it's anything like the sellouts I've seen working for a big fortune-whatever company, there won't be a lot of change. A year or so a lot of us got "outsourced" to a rather large company. There have been rumors that the rest of us are soon to be IBM employees.
But I don't think it's going to matter much to you. The people I work with that got outsourced got huge (equiv to 6 mos salary) bonuses and generally make 10% higher salary now. Is it saving my company money? Of course not. Outsourcing never does (don't believe that hype--- outsourcing is done so that you can be EXPENDIBLE and FIRED at their whim). But culturally those people didn't change.
As a matter of fact, you have to imagine that the larger consulting firms don't really care about you... you're a number to them, a mercenary for hire, working for them this week. So they don't care. Not only would I not expect anything NICE out of MCI, I wouldn't expect anything much at all...
man, in this job market, if worldcom will pay you for dicking around with computers all day on multi million dollar networks and 16 processor servers... uh take that job.
better than eating ramen.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
Did they specifically state that they plan on hiring you? Most of the time, they simply obsolesce your presence. It's sort of their business plan.
I'm not ragging on you, but have you gotten any assurances, in writing?
Talisman
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
If you can't find any entries (unlikely, for bigger companies), it indicates that either:
- Company's doing fine, everyone's happy, or
- Employees are clueless dolts that have never
read FC.
:-)
Needless to say, it's more likely to be latter than former.I consulted at Worldcom in Spring and Summer 2000 at their offices on Centennial Road in Piscataway, NJ. I was part of the Private Network Engineering group, which gets the bigger and more complicated clients.
:)
Here's what it was like when I worked there, followed by what I HEAR its like now:
My work time was split up between drafting customer documents like pretty network maps, configuring routers/switches, and participating in teleconferences to help techs around the world install that equipment after its been shipped. The work was fun if youre the engineering type - but youre not a paper pusher. your creative side has an outlet too as most documents require some artistic skill to appease clients.
The environment was standard cube-farm. I came in contact with project leads and managers all day, and none of them wore anything dressier than slacks. Its a real khakis and polo kinda place. My co-workers were very helpful and even took the time to explain new technologies to me If I was unfamiliar with them. Its not very cut-throat and I was suprised at the HUGE mix of people and educations that did this highly technical work confidently.
Engineers have access to training labs stocked with some pretty serious new equipment. This was probably the coolest thing about Worldcom - the free training. Shared on the network were SCADS of e-training courses from top vendors on subjects as diverse as design, configuration, and administration. We'd have trainers come in on big projects if we were going to be introduced to new vendor equipment. A few times a year you can ask for an outside training course and youll probably get it.
Overall I really liked it and would highly recomend the Piscataway, NJ or White Plains (Rye), NY worldcom offices to anyone involved. Actually the Rye ofice was mad cool with beer on "managers' sick" days and nerf weapons out the wazoo.
Ive heard Worldcom has been plagued with problems lately though. Theyre low on funds to the point taht they sometimes can pre-order the equipment theyll need for a customer. Many of my old co-workers are watching DVDs for days on end for lack of clients. Lets hope the market comes back up for em.
-My 2 cents and THANKS JIM NOCELLA for gettin me that job
Worldcom has a LOT of experience on mergers and acquisitions. Don't expect them to sit around and ignore you. They'll move quickly to integrate or to cut.
So don't read the fucking article. Contrary to popular opinion, not every single byte on Slashdot is required reading. Vote with your eyeballs and read something else if that's at all possible.
you should read everything on the internet as if it had "but I'm probably talking out of my ass" appended to it.