GTS UKI IS Delivery Cost Financial Analyst Review

The main things I enjoyed were the relaxed and friendly working atmosphere, the social aspect amongst other interns, and not having to worry about work after logging off for the day (a change from the university schedule). There were also plenty of opportunities to network and attend education sessions.

There is a lot of sideways movement within IBM, which means the team I worked in was constantly changing. 5 of my main contacts changed over the course of my placement year, and other changes were taking place too. This meant that by the end of it, I had become one of the longest serving team members so I felt very valued, as I was often relied upon to explain things to newer team members.

The foundation programme at IBM is helpful when you first start, ensuring that you are inducted well, and the review process involves a 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month review with your Early Professional Manager. However, outside of that, the ball is entirely in your court and the support and guidance is only as available as you make it. In my case, I didn't utilise a lot of what may have been available, so I'm not as best placed to pass judgement.

This varies hugely based on who your manager is and what time of month it is (month end is notoriously busy for most in finance). For me, I always had something to do but I didn't feel under any great time pressure for a lot of my work. A large amount is also self-driven, so requires you to be proactive, and it would have been entirely possible to coast through a large amount of the year.

I definitely felt like a valued member of my team at IBM. I provided input for reviews with high level executives on a weekly basis, was responsible for a file that was key for our teams understanding of our top level finances, and was constantly working with both the finance team and operations team to make sure everything tied together and both teams are working together as expected.

The main skills I gained were around communication, teamwork and Excel. While these are invaluable going forward after university, I didn't gain any formal qualifications which may have been nice. The Think40 program (IBMers are required to complete 40 hours of self-driven education) is useful, but also very easy to make up and is only as useful as you make it.

There were about a dozen people working in my department that were regularly office, half of whom were other interns, and everyone got along well. There are rooms that can be booked so that if someone has a call, the rest of the office isn't being distracted, although sometimes people don't utilise them. All the senior IBMers were friendly though, and made me feel part of the team.

The IBM internship program has been running for a number of years now so it is set up to run efficiently, with each intern having an EPM (Early Professionals Manager) to help with any non-work issues, and a Task Manager for work. There were reviews at 3, 6 and 12 months with your EPM, and depending on your task manager, you could also have reviews with them and request feedback.

IBM has a program called Think40 where every IBMer has to undertake 40 hours of personal development each year, whether this be attending seminars/talks or finding educational material online to complete. However, there was minimal investment in this regard, and it was all driven by the individual. There was also no opportunity for me to obtain any real qualifications that I was made aware of.

Approximately 25% of interns come back as a graduate at IBM. Last year, 270 interns applied and 95 graduates were hired, compared to 3000 external candidates applying for 100 spots, so the internship is a good head start in that regard. However, I get the impression that prospects rely heavily upon how much each individual interacts with their task manager, as that is who can give the best feedback, so some interns may be advantaged/disadvantaged in the process.

I lived with 5 other interns, and most of the Portsmouth interns all lived in the same area (Southsea), a lot off the same road, so there was a lot of opportunity for social interaction, whether it be to a pub, club, shopping, eating out, or watching the football.

Being from Cheshire the prices down south always seem higher to me, especially with my rent coming in at about £500/month, however it's definitely preferable to living in London price-wise.

Albert Road in Southsea has about 10 different pubs which is perfect for a crawl, then there's plenty of other options too, and a reasonable number of clubs too (Tiger Tiger, Astoria, Liquid and Popworld being the most frequented). It seemed as though there was something for everyone.

I joined the tennis club in Southsea, and I know people who joined rugby, badminton, hockey, pole dancing, and of course gyms. This isn't something that IBM help out with though, this depends on the individual.