EMEA Promotions & Incentives Coordinator Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my one year placement at IBM. I was hesitant when I started but have grown to enjoy it and embrace all the opportunities and challenges that come with it. I have learnt many skills, been to senior client meetings, given presentations, help coordinate mid to long term projects and have gained a wealth of varied experience in my time at IBM. I am very keen to return as a graduate.

I felt very valued by all colleagues within the business, whether it be fellow interns, graduates or much more senior managers. Everyone in the company is very welcoming, and both value your work as well as being willing to help you develop or help you get involved with new experiences. This is the key thing I noticed about IBM in comparison to other companies; no matter your level of experience every IBMer is made to feel valued.

At IBM you are encouraged to try things, learn independently and think on your feet. Saying that, there is always help and additional support and guidance available for interns, and any employees. As an intern you have an Early Professionals Manager (EPM) who supports you from a pastoral and mentoring point of view, and your task manager helps you with the day to day tasks you carry out!

My business varied greatly throughout my time at the company with regard to my day to day role and responsibilities. There were periods when I had an hour or so free a day, but I used this time to gain extra skills and knowledge on other areas of the company or do education in something I wanted to improve e.g. Microsoft Excel. There were also weeks where I would work a lot more than my contracted hours in line with business demands.

I was given lots of responsibility throughout my placement both within my role and in the wider sense, At IBM the more responsibility you want the more you can get. There are many opportunities to volunteer for additional roles and projects, as well as taking on positions of responsibility. The work I did was crucial to the team I was working inn (Channels Management) and therefore was a role of significant responsibility

I learnt skills both on the job, as well as through structured education sessions delivered by more senior colleagues within the company and sometimes by attending external events. The wide variety of skills will help me in my final year of my degree and beyond in many ways. Practical experience is the best way to learn, and skills such as communication, presenting, time management are all transferable to any walk of life, be it university or life beyond.

Atmosphere is fairly relaxed, in London business dress is required but not in other offices. Everyday can be different and there is an excellent social side to being a placement student at IBM, in my year there were over 300 interns across the country.

The whole placement set up is run by foundation, and is extremely well planned out, managed and organized. There are various landmark events for interns throughout the year, such as the Careers Academy which is designed to help interns with the transition to Graduate roles. There are many education sessions available, as well as a formal review and monitoring process for your performance. communication between foundation and the interns is easy to understand and act upon.

There were plenty of personal development opportunities through education sessions, online seminars in endless different fields such as project management, technical skills, presenting, communicating effectively, consulting etc. There are opportunities to set up your own initiatives at your University fro example to attract more students to consider IBM for a future career. You can engage with anyone in the company for advice and learn from them, as well as having the PartnerMe scheme to pair you with someone more senior in your area of interest for shadowing opportunities.

I personally am very keen to return to IBM in the future,and the great thing about such a large organization is that there are so many different roles to choose from in different lines of business, so there is something for everyone. In addition having been at the company before I have already got lots of contacts in different areas of the business as well as understanding the processes and culture, so coming back is more appealing than starting from scratch at a completely new company.

The social scene between the interns was excellent, even from the very first day of the induction. We had many social events throughout the year, of which the highlights would be the Christmas and summer parties. There are 300 interns in IBM, and a similar number of graduates so merging these communities creates an excellent foundation for a great social side. You also make many very good friends through work, and this is another benefit of a great social community.

Renting in and around Clapham typically costs about £700 per month. Socializing in and around London is also very expensive relative to the rest of the country, but being based in Southbank caters for this with a slightly increased salary, and I would say the benefits of being in such a lively city definitely outweigh the financial costs.

Nightlife was excellent as I was based in London, so within 20/30 minutes you could to anywhere in the city. There are lots of standard nightclubs throughout the city, but also many unique events that are organized.

There were numerous opportunities to get involved with extra activities outside of work, whether it is sport related, hobbies and many other classes you can take in London. There are lots of gyms and leisure clubs, IBM itself run many sports teams in fact and even compete in the corporate games each year. Furthermore there are many other activities to get involved with in and around the capital, so there is definitely something for everyone.