Commercial Sales Operation Specialist Review

IBM was my first choice of preference as a placement due to me knowing the extent to the opportunities they offered you. I have absolutely loved my year at IBM, I have made some great friends and learned a whole new range of skills whilst getting the opportunity to work along many industry experts.

During my year at IBM I was really made to feel part of the team, I was given a lot of responsibility and ownership to which I have felt valued and respected as a member of my team rather than looked at as an intern.

As long as you are proactive, IBM offers range of opportunities for interns to further their skills and development. My Managers were extremely supportive with this and pushed me to do anything that further my development throughout the year. During my first few months at IBM my managers and team members really made me feel really at ease in my role, that if ever I was unsure of something there was always someone to turn to for support and guidance.

Work as a Sales Operations Specialist my role was extremely varied, from going out to client meetings, running events, quarterly planning to even doing some blog writing. My managers was always very attentive to me and ensured I never had too much or too little work. I was never bored within my role and if there was ever a time where it would be a little quite there was always plenty opportunities to get involved with Giveback and do something a little different.

I feel that I was given a great deal of responsibility within my role at IBM. I was left to regularly calculate quarterly figures with extreme accuracy as this determined our financial summary and our budget for next quarter. I was also given the responsibility to meet and liaise with clients requires me to show a high level of professionalism and passion for the business. I felt very valued by my team due to the amount of responsibility that I was given.

I feel that IBM offers such a range of opportunities that there is the ability to develop a wide variety of skills and expertise. All the competencies that I developed during my time at IBM are easily transferable and will aid me in my future career path. I feel that the knowledge I have acquired will help me with my dissertation as I am able to use the information I have learnt from this year to incorporate into my final project.

The office at Southbank has a great atmosphere, it was extremely sociable and promoted a positive and encouraging environment.

My placement year was extremely well organised. I had regular reviews with my early professional manager where I was assessed and set personal goals throughout the year. This encouraged me to further my personal development a strive towards achieving the best out of my year with IBM

IBM invests a huge amount into education and development, meaning that you can very literally take on any course or develop any skills completely free through the company. Not only that but IBM also invest a lot of money into the foundation scheme that looks after all placements ensuring they really are getting the very best out of their year and come away from it with newly acquired skills.

I am currently in the stage of completing my graduate application to form in order to apply to come back to IBM once I have completed my degree. After having a taster of IBM as a placement student I believe that IBM is the best possible place to start my career after University due to the second to none training they provide and the responsibility you are given as a graduate.

Working in Southbank there were another 150 placement student, a few hundred graduates, apprentices and gap year students. Therefore working at IBM was extremely sociable and I have made many friends along my journey.

Working in London could be a little expensive due to the London prices, but as I lived in Surrey I commuted from home each day which only cost around £250 a month with my railcard. IBM also gave students that work in the London offices a London allowance of £3,000 extra to cover your travel expenses throughout the year.

The nightlife in London is great! There are so many different restaurants, bars and clubs that you can go to, and as the IBM Southbank is location it is only a tube stop away from most lively areas in London

IBM offers the opportunity to get involved with many different sports teams - although I didn't get involved with these teams myself I heard from others that they were really good fun!