Ok I am a confused between the offers I have from Citibank (IB not retail) and IBM.I come from a smallish IT company (3000 employees) but with 5 years experience in cap markets having worked with all the major IB out there as BA, architect whaever you call it. I have more of IT delivery background.IBM have offered me a MC role at band 6 in FS. Citi have offered me a BA/ system analyst type role in a mid/back office function. However the salary offered by Citi is around £700 extra per month after tax.Which one would you people recommend ? From my own research by speaking to people, I have been told that band 6 is far too low for 5 years exp and on the other hand that work at Citi can be boring. This has got me confused !

Personally I would go for IBM, as there is much more scope for growth due to it being a consulting organisation. However, others may think differently. For me it is always about the type of work and career prospects and less about the money side.Best of luck with whichever job you end up taking.

I'd take the £15k extra salary - both jobs are going to be boring.

This is a no brainer. Go to Citi. So IBM offered you Band 6? That means they do not have any plans for you my friend. I left IBM after 5 years out of University and was knocking on Band 8. Moreover, IBM does not have a good reputation amongst the people "in the know". If you want to continue to be a prized industry specialist you should go to Citi, even if some of the work might be dull (Probably a phenomenon observed in any job, except Cheerleader trainer). IBM will use and abuse you for 2-3 years and then spit you out. Moreover, you might run risk to end up at really bad projects...doing useless spreadsheet admin. Speak to as many people as you can and have a look at portals like glassdoor.com. I am puzzled that with this difference in salary you are considering IBM...seems like their colourful brochures manipulated your neurons..Whatever, you decide to do - Good luck!

Thanks for the response so far.I was not considering IBM due to its glossy marketing stuff but more due to varied nature of work (I suppose) as opposed to citi where I guess I would be working atleast for 3 years in a back office dept though with higher salary and probably higher bonus.Though both money and experience are important to me but at my age and experience level I would prefer to gain quality experience and money would then come in. But is IBM worth sacrificing the other offer and will it help me gain that experience ? If not, then the other option I have is to take Citi's offer and look to apply to a Big 4 or other quality firm in 2 years. Makes sense?

Confused I think you are quite right to pause with this offer. Deep cuts will have to happen in the banking sector next year - hiring has been ambitious, too ambitious, and revenues have not been high enough. Are you going to be based in Lewisham? If so frankly it wouldnt convince me personally - more money to be at the back of beyond (in terms of Citi at least), and its well known that they never really integrated their business units very well - so you will be walking into a mosaic mess in the BO. But of course that could be an opportunity, depending on what you would be doing. Bear in mind that banks see no development track per se - as soon as you are surplus to requirements you willl be gone. IBM will offer more security but a band 6 would be too low. My suggestion would be to hold Citi off and use it to push back with IBM for a better offer - if they wont budge then go with Citi and plan to move out into either Big 4 of you want consulting, or a tasty asset manager with plenty of nice blue chip counterparties, in middle office around IT change type work.

Mars A Day, thanks for your reply.If you are talking of deep cuts within banking, wouldnt that affect the likes of the consulting firms in their banking practice ? Wouldnt that mean there is an element of risk in being chopped of there as well.I will be based in canary wharf with Citi, the role being business/ system analysis and PM for IT change type work. The only good thing is the extra money they are offering and mind you this doesnt include the bonus.I totally agree with you when you say banks do not have any development track and I know that having spoken to many people. I am deciding if the extra money offered is worth sacrificing for anything or should I stick to Citi for few years and then choose my options having a good name on my CV.

It is beyond the bounds of my imagination as to why you would consider IBM a superior organisation that would provide you with more varied experience than Citi.I'd recommend Manchester City, Bristol City, Lincoln City, a City&Guilds in Plumbing and Itsy-City-Yellow-Polka-Dot-Bikini over a job at IBM

Just make sure you avoid getting into City Underpants.