Technical Sales Leadership Support Review

My work placement at IBM offered me a vast range of tasks and opportunities to get involved in which were very beneficial to my personal development. There are also a lot of opportunities for networking, chances to shadow and a strong social culture with the other work placement students in your office.

As soon as joining IBM I felt warmly welcomed by the previous intern that was introducing me to my role and tasks. Straight away I was accepted as part of my team and was introduced to each member personally and who to contact if I had any issues. Throughout my placement, all of the work I have been asked to complete has been valued by my colleagues and I have received lots of positive and constructive feedback.

Once joining IBM you are introduced to both your line manager and your Early Professional Manager (EPM). Your line manager is responsible for your day to day task setting and you are in contact with them throughout your placement, whilst your EPM is there to give you support and guidance if you are experiencing any issues in your placement and you will meet with them for reviews throughout the year so they can check and see if you are enjoying your role.

At the start of my placement I had the perfect amount of work given to me from the previous intern in my role. However, as you progress throughout the year you are advised to use your own initiative to secure more work if needed or raise the issue of being given too much work to your line manager or Early Professionals Manager. This process was one which was new to me however I benefited from this as it gives you the opportunity to branch out.

Throughout my placement I was surprised with the amount of responsibility I was given with the level of work that I was set. This was a large benefit of my placement as it reflected the amount of trust that my team had in me which is such an important thing to gain in your placement to show that you can be left to independently work well.

The skills I have gained and developed throughout my placement year will be ones that I will benefit from for life. Working within tightly knit teams, with different cultures and in such a large corporation really increased my confidence and also stressed the importance of effective communication. My placement has also increased my efficiency and work ethic which I will benefit from with my final year of study at University.

I was placed in the South Bank office in London with over 100 other interns so there was a large social culture between the interns and it was also nice to interact with other people in the same position as me. I was extremely pleased to be placed in this London office as you were always able to see people face to face if you had any problems and there was always a great atmosphere here.

IBM organised the work placement scheme very well starting with a two day induction in Portsmouth where you had the opportunity to meet other interns that you would be working with. I then received a 3 week handover with my previous intern who introduced me to my team and also talked me through all of the tasks I would be working on throughout the year and helped me out with any queries I had at the start. You also have a strong bond with your EPM and your line manager throughout your placement too.

There are a large variety of training and development opportunities throughout your placement which are optional so it is your choice what you wish to get involved with. I had the opportunity to attend a Beginners Coding Class, a 3 day Design Thinking workshop and multiple Lunch and Learn sessions which covered a huge variety of topics.

After your year in industry you are given the option to apply internally and depending on your performance throughout the year you may be able to skip through the testing and assessment centre process. After attending Career's Academy I will have more of an idea as to which of the graduate schemes would suit my skills set best and I will definitely be applying back to one of the schemes.

As I was based in the South Bank office with over 100 other interns there was a good social scene among us all. It was great that there were so many other placement students in the same position as myself and with such a good position in London it was always easy to either eat out at lunch or explore London in the evenings or weekends.

During my placement year I opted to live at home and commuted in in order to save up some money at the end of the year. London is a very expensive area to live in and this was something I was already aware of so I was lucky that I lived close enough to commute from home. However, the socialising aspect of London can counteract the cost of living there are there are a huge range of things to do!

As I was based in the South Bank office in London there wasn't a shortage of things to do in the evenings and on weekends. At the start of the year meeting up with the other interns in the evenings was a great way of getting to know each other better and there are plenty of things that are available to do in Central London. There are so many bars around and opposite the office which was nice for an after work drink occasionally.

IBM had netball and football teams that were open for the interns to get involved with which included weekly training and matches and it was up to you how involved you were willing to get with this. There were also many events in London that IBM either offered discounts for or invited you to for example the Colour Obstacle Run and TED Talks.