Infrastructure Management Coordinator Review

I loved my year at IBM. It took me a few weeks to pick up my role and after that I really enjoyed what I did. The foundation programme is very well organised with an induction at the beginning and then role specific training. There are also other education sessions throughout the year that help with soft skills and career guidance.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. I did not feel that I wascould not get involved in things just because I was a placement student. My role had me involved with multiple teams in my department and everyone was more than willing to support me. Everyone was approachable and if I did not the answer to something, I could ask someone for assistance.

My managers were very helpful from the beginning. They gave me the freedom to get involved with other IBM activities as long as I completed my work as required. They were able to offer advice on things I could get involved that would enhance my prospects post-placement. My Early Professionals Manager was also very helpful in dealing with any personal or work-related issues that I had during the year.

My role had the right balance for me. There were weeks where I had more to do and weeks where I had less to do. I never felt that my workload was unattainable. My managers checked on me and asked if I had too much or too little to do. I was given the responsibility to manage my own workload so I had to manage my time to ensure all my tasks were completed by deadlines.

I was given a lot of responsibility and had areas that were my own to oversee. There were other projects going on that I was able to get involved in (e.g. Audit, Database Migration). These opportunities I asked to work on which has led to an increase in responsibility as my experience has grown.

The skills I have developed will be very useful throughout my career. I have developed my soft skills a lot, especially my teamwork, negotiation and leadership. The knowledge will also be useful to me as I now have experience working with different software. I have been able to shadow people who work in my potential career path and this has given me a better idea of what I would like to pursue after graduation.

The atmosphere in my office was very good. There are employees from all different backgrounds with lots of different experience. I have been lucky enough to get exposed to so many and have learned a lot in my time here. We also have socials outside of work during the year which is nice to get to know people personally.

The organisation was very good. The induction is very comprehensive at the beginning and then during the year, there are regular check ups to see how you are doing on your placement. The foundation team send out lots of information throughout the year about everything (e.g. 6 month review, final presentation, contract extensions etc)

The company gives you a lot of informal training. Your role depends on how much and what type of formal training you will receive. IBM also has a massive database of personal learning you can complete in your own time. My role had me doing self study for the software I was using.

The grad scheme is very appealing because I know the culture having already worked here this year. The salary is also one of the highest for grad schemes in this industry. You are to able to apply internally which is a bonus and if you have performed well, can be fast-tracked to later stages of the recruitment process.

There are a lot of placement students at my location and they all go out regularly together. Some students have taken trips abroad together or gone away for the weekend to visit other cities.

The cost of living in my location was very good. I was based in the North Harbour office and I lived in Portsmouth. It is possible to live entirely on the salary you get from IBM.

As I am based in a student city, there are a lot of options available. There are quite a few clubs which play different types of music. There are also a lot of pubs and bars. Taxis are really cheap so a night out can be done on less than £30 depending on how much you spend out!

There were a few opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Most of these are giveback opportunities for the local area. I have done several and enjoyed doing these as it is nice to do something different once in a while.