I applied online back in October and received a call from the hiring manager in late December (IBM takes that long for everyone in most cases). The manager very honest and frank and a employee with 40+ years at IBM. Scheduled a 1 on 1 interview within a week, went there and was very impressed. The manager was very qualified with an MBA and explained the position in detail also took time to learn about me. Received a verbal offer and received a written offer after 2 weeks.