Location: Yorktown Heights, NY
Number of Respondents: 9

          The students lived in suburban or rural settings that were 15 to 40 minutes away from work. They had a variety of housing arrangements, including hotels, dorms, apartments, and houses. Most used cars to get to work, although IBM T. J. Watson does not provide them for its interns. Although the after-work activities in the area were limited, most people found that with a car, New York City and the Catskills were easily accessible for weekend fun. IBM T. J. Watson does provide special rates for its interns at a nearby hotel and subsidizes housing costs for about $1000 to $1500.

          The students' projects covered basic and applied research, as well as product development. The projects were mostly assigned upon arrival, although one student was assigned her project before the summer, and for a few students, it took several weeks to have their projects defined. Students were mostly assigned projects or allowed to chose among a set of possibilities. Mostly, students felt that their projects were fairly interesting and fairly important to the work of their groups. One student was thoroughly dissatisfied with his project and had trouble switching it. Most others, however, found their projects challenging and a good fit for their interests and abilities.

          The work environment at IBM T. J. Watson is fairly laid-back. Dress is very casual. Students mostly had shared offices. The co-workers are very competent and generally treated the students with respect. The available equipment is fairly state-of-the-art.

          There was a great deal of interaction with other students, which was encouraged by company-sponsored after-work activities such as barbecues, movies, seminars, and tourism.

          No health or dental benefits are paid by IBM T. J. Watson, but moving costs and the fifth-year, first-term tuition are covered. The salary is above average for the East Coast.

          The students reported that IBM T. J. Watson is a good company and that they worked in good groups. Most would choose to work at there again and would consider working there after graduation.

"...Challenging and satisfying...."
"It's easy money."
"My fellow group members are very intelligent and friendly. They made working here very pleasant. "

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