Software Cadence Operations Assistant Review

I found my year at IBM to be a great experience and was pivitol in making my decision with what I wanted to do with future. You feel thoroughly supported throughout your time there and get the opportunity to work with the highest calibre of people with a wealth of knowledge that is invaluable to you. There is also a great community of interns and graduates that made my work placement amazing!

Everyone that I worked with over my year at IBM treated me as one of their equals and was eager to listens to my ideas and suggestions and never made me feel like 'only an intern'. The work I was doing was greatly valued by my team and I really enjoyed working with them all.

My managers were really great in giving me any help of support needed and were always keen for me to ask as many questions as I could in order to broaden my understanding; with no question every being seen as stupid. I was also highly supported by my Early Professionals Manager throughout my placement year, with him always available to help you with anything that you felt your task manager couldn't.

How busy I was largely depended on what was required by my management team. I would have everyday tasks that would mostly fill the time but this could fluctuate when extra work was needed. However, even if you have a quiet period there are always other projects to get involved in that will fill your time.

You are given a great deal of responsibility when working at IBM and quickly realise that the work you are doing is highly valued by members of the team and they rely on you to produce important documents that enable them to do their job. One of the files I produce is reviewed by [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] (CEO of IBM UKI) and so I am trusted to ensure that this is done to a high standard and presents accurate information.

The skills I have learnt whilst at IBM will help me greatly throughout my career, as well as throughout my degree. You learn the importance of time management and professionalism, as well as key business skills that are applicable throughout your career. Excel played a major part in my role at IBM and through developing my skills significantly I now feel comfortable using them to benefit me in my degree and future career.

IBM is a great place to work filled with a variety of people and opportunities. It is a relaxed, yet professional office that encourages you to mix within your team, as well as others. It employs a flexi-desk systems which means you could be sitting next to anyone from another intern to a senior manager which allows you to get good exposures to other team members and means everyday could be different. There are a large group of interns in the office which means it can be very social and a great place to network.

My placement year was really well organised and had a really good structure to ensure I got the best experience possible. When starting you attend a two day induction with helps you to understand more about how your placement year will work and gives you all the essential information you will need to know. You are then assigned both your task manager who is responsible for setting your everyday task and then you have an Early Professionals Manager who is there to support you with anything you may need throughout the year; this is a really beneficial scheme and enables you to complete your placement year smoothly.

When you join IBM you attend a two day induction course which educates you on the essentials of your placement year and allows you to get to know some other interns. There are also many other training events that you have access too throughout the year, as well as the Think40 education website that allows you to learn online.

The IBM graduate scheme is very appealing and offers some of the best training in the world. There are a range of different jobs that can appeal to everyone and allows you gain invaluable experience within one of the world’s largest companies. The foundation scheme that IBM operates allows graduates to be successful, not only within the scheme, but also sets you up to be a valued member of the team when you come off of it.

Working in the Southbank office, I was constantly surrounded by many other interns and there is a great social scene all throughout the year. You get the opportunity to meet numerous people throughout the year and grow your network significantly. This is also applicable within your team as there are many events that you are able to attend to meet other IBM employees.

I was able to stay at home for my placement year and so my cost of living was not as great as those who were renting in London. Whilst there are expensive places to socialise in London, you are also able to hunt out many of the cheaper places and enjoy a really good and affordable social scene!

I was based in Southbank for my placement year and the nightlife was really good. There are a large group of interns in Southbank and therefore there is always someone to go out with to one of the numerous bars and restaurants in the area. Southbank also offers some amazing views of London and is a great place to be, as well as only being a short distance from the city which has more options to choose from.

There are constantly extra projects to get involved with outside of your everyday role and are really good to get involved in to gain more knowledge and experience of other areas of the business you are interested in. As well as extra projects there are also opportunities to do giveback in which you could do anything from helping out at events to doing presentations in schools.