Pros
- Management really puts an emphasis on personal development, targets are not just oriented on business goals measurable in money. Naturally, this might differ between teams, but line managers also get trainings in this area. - Of course there are sometimes stressful project situations, but in general the company allows you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. You are definitely not expected to make the workplace your home, and it's generally possible to do your job in the set 40 hours per week (and take all your 30 days of vacation - team leads regularly remind their employees to "book" these days for the whole year). - While there are definitely areas where company processes etc. can be improved (the Ulm site is only a bit less than five years old, and the company has grown rapidly over the recent years), this is also an opportunity to advance your career by filling the gaps and assuming responsibility. - A little while ago, the company has started a change process that deals with employee satisfaction as well as company strategy. "Ordinary" (non-management) employees can and do actively participate in this process. This process has already yielded the first results which address several of the negative issues stated in other reviews. - Payment becomes definitely competitive if you stay for a while. - It's possible to apply high quality standards.
Cons
- Other reviews have pointed out a customer-supplier relationship with BMW AG. This applies in particular to older projects, where BMW Car IT has smaller work packages and less responsibility. - HR tries to keep starting salaries low when hiring people. If you don't negotiate well you might get the feeling that you were taken advantage of. So be prepared to come with a realistic salary expectation and arguments for it. - Company processes are sometimes overly bureaucratic. - Applying agile software development practices is possible to some degree, but don't expect shiny fancy stuff like DevOps, or a really agile approach for the entire product. That being said, when the industry as a whole starts moving into this direction, BMW Car IT will likely embrace this change.