Total Software Finance Integration Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my placement at IBM; I had a very interesting role in Finance and was given large responsibilities. The work was varied and I was treated like a full time employee. There was a huge sense of community among the IBMers and everyone is treated as an integral part of the business. Training as an undergrad at IBM is also really thorough.

I got on really well with my manager and know many other interns who felt the same way. I felt very much as though I was needed by my team and also by the business as a whole. My manager and her manager were very appreciative of the work I did.

Supervision for interns at IBM is superb because each intern has 2 managers; one task manager and one Early Professionals Manager. The latter is there for more personal matters such as personal development. They can help you get in touch with people to increase your network and gain shadowing experience. You can also go to them if you have any issues at work.

I was fairly unfortunate in my first 6 months on placement, in that I didn't have a large work load in my team. However, I used this to my advantage and made contact with other managers in other finance teams to ask for more to do. I helped the tax team through this, and also the IBM Trust. Looking back, I'm very pleased I had this time to settle in and gain more diverse experience which I would otherwise not have been able to do.

I was given more responsibility than I was anticipating; I was responsible for checking bank statements and verifying that nothing was being paid without approval. I was also responsible for paying suppliers when they billed us. Despite only being an intern, you and your work are treated very seriously.

I doubt the training I received will help my university studies that much, apart from a presentation workshop I attended to improve my presentation skills. Otherwise, the skills were mostly helpful for being on-the-job.

There were some other interns in my particular office, so we were able to chat when we were free or go down to lunch together where all interns in Portsmouth congregated over lunch! The mix of interns and full time employees was good because it meant that us interns could network and learn more about IBM.

From the start, at the induction, I could tell that IBM was very comfortable with the set up of its placement year. Everything was conducted well and all was explained, and there were enough opportunities to ask more questions if necessary. The communication throughout the year from the Foundation team - who run all intern, graduate, apprenticeship & futures schemes - was supportive and helpful, offering many different opportunities for us.

The employability skills workshops that were set up at each office location were very useful and helpful. They were varied, for example some taught me a lot about future roles in consultancy that I may be interested in, and others were for your own personal development, such as the presentation one and a building your personal brand one. A careers academy day was also set up at the London Southbank office, which had activities & workshops set up throughout the day. Expenses for this sort of thing are paid if you are not based in London.

IBM are not very clear on what likelihood you have of getting back into the company on a graduate scheme, but we have been led to understand that the best you can achieve in you end of year review (something that all interns have to partake in), the better your chances of being asked to come back for an assessment centre after applying back. All students must apply back just the same as external candidates, but of course, if you network well throughout your internship, you have a much better chance of managers cherry picking you in the assessment centre process for graduate roles. It's up to you to make yourself known!!

Some events were set up for interns to socialise and integrate at the beginning of the year, but after that it was up to you. I personally lived at home during my year as I am from the area, but I still managed to do all the same things as the people living away in rented homes by pushing myself and staying round friends' houses!

For me, it was a lot cheaper because I was paying a lot lower amount of rent to my parents, so I was able to save over the year. But I know that for others it was not hard to socialise. Living in Portsmouth came to about £400 a month rent, and everyone still managed to go out most weekends. Where Portsmouth is out in the sticks, the interns have a good sense of community and socialise a lot with each other.

I'm biased because I am from Portsmouth and I love it! There have been mixed views from other interns who aren't from around here though. Some think it's very small and there aren't many good clubs, but there are at least 3 proper clubs; a liquid & envy, a Tiger Tiger, and Scandals - an indie cellar club (my favourite club ever). There are also tonnes of other bars such as Bar 38 and other independent ones.

For the boys (or girls!!), there is a Goals for football; the boys in my year formed their own team and entered a league. There are many gyms around the area which most interns utilise; some attend classes throughout the week. There is Southsea beach and Southsea which are lovely in the summer and have many events throughout the year. The music scene is good in Portsmouth; there are many venues where a range of artists play - the Portsmouth Guildhall & The Wedgewood Rooms host larger events, and Edge of the Wedge and many others a good for up and coming bands.