Sales Operations Review

I enjoyed my placement with IBM. I performed a sales operations role. It gave me a great range of opportunities, some that I expected and some that unexpected. It also gave me the opportunity to develop existing skills as well as gain new ones. I had the freedom to explore different areas of the business that interested me.

Generally, I felt valued by my colleagues, although some more than others. The work I performed was heavily relied on at important parts of the quarter, and they let me know they appreciated my work. I was constantly reviewed throughout the year, and the positive feedback I received made me feel more valued.

I received the support and guidance that I needed. At IBM every intern is given an early professional manager, to ensure the support and guidance you need in order to develop. This helped me do things I would not have done without, such as observing sessions of IBMs global sales school. At IBM everyone is very open and friendly to giving help or advice.

At the beginning of my placement I had less to do, however I soon became very busy almost every day. There was a lot of evenings that I had to work, and also the occasional weekend. This was a combination of having a busy day job, as well as putting myself forward for extra tasks and opportunities.

Despite much of my work being quite operational and excel based, I was still given quite a lot of responsibility on my placement. I was taken along my various sales members to different customer meetings. I was also given the responsibility of showcasing a robot at various events around Europe. This was a piece of IBM software, that I became trained in how to operate.

I feel the routine of getting up early, and going to work for the whole day will provide me with a stronger work ethic to take back into my final year at university. My presentation skills have also increased, which will help me for group presentations next year at university. I have also developed lots of other skills that will be helpful going forward in my career.

It was very quiet, hardly anyone about. All of my team were based at a different office to me so I would often travel to meet them or be speaking with them on the phone. Despite this, still a good community of interns in my office, and so room for socializing after work. Would be keen to return to work for IBM but not at the Bedfont office again.

Fairly well organised. There was a Facebook group set up before I started so that I could arrange with other interns to live with, then some inductions days that helped us meet other interns. After this there was formal review periods, and we were told from the start what the expectations were from each of us. The

There was a lot of online training that we could complete, and were encouraged to do so. Despite this, there was not a lot of training for interns. There is a lot for graduates which is why I would be keen to return to the company.

I hope to return to the company. One of the things that attracts me to return to IBM is the training and support graduates receive. Nobody finds out whether they have a graduate role until after leaving though, and so I will still have to go through the application process with other companies. There are also not as many roles for graduates.

Yes there was a lot of social activities, however most were arranged by interns (the company did not put much on). There was a couple of occasions when we went for 'team drinks' but the majority of my socializing was with other interns. The Bedfont office is badly located for socializing after work.

It was fairly expensive, despite living quite far from central London. I was able to drive to the office so the commute was cheap for me, however if I had to get the train it would have been quite expensive over the year. The office canteen is also very expensive. With the salary we received, it was hard (but not impossible) to save money and socialize.

There was not much of a nightlife around Bedfont. For a night out we would have to travel into the centre of London, this became very expensive and so was not done that much. There is not many pubs either for a drink after work. Often I would travel to a different office, which was more central and so the nightlife became better.

There was a football team that I joined, but other opportunities were limited. The cost of the football has been subsidized by IBM. There is a corporate games that IBM enter - a two day annual sporting event between IBM and other companies, that I am attending later on this month. Outside of sport, there is not many opportunities to get involved with anything.