Smarter Workforce Research Consultant Review

I can safely say, it was the most valuable experience of my life. IBM give you a proper job in a supportive environment and more than that, they really value you as a person and employee.

I was never once given a typical "intern" task, for example to get someone coffee. You are part of the team and given important/crucial roles that deliver value to clients. The team I was in always had work for me to do and were keen to give me the opportunity to prove myself. I have had many feedback comments with people saying they didn’t want me to leave, this assured me that I was valued by my colleagues and I was an important part of the team.

Your relationship with your manager depends on the type of worker you are. Personally, I had quite a laid back management relationship and was given a lot of autonomy. But if you feel you need that close relationship, IBM can definitely provide that. It all depends on your personal needs and what will allow you to provide your best results.

I worked as a consultant. The nature of consulting work is that some times you are incredibly busy and other times things are quieter. But IBM really pushes people to develop themselves, so you make yourself as busy as you wish to be. In quiet times with clients, I pushed myself to learn new things with the help of IBM platforms and resources.

From right after my induction I was put on client projects and within my first 3 weeks of IBM I had sent an important piece of my own work to a client. They put a lot of trust in you, if you can prove yourself that trust keeps growing and you get bigger, more important and more exciting tasks.

The skills I have learnt this year will help me in my degree, in future jobs and live in general. This year has made me believe in myself and I now have the confidence and ability to walk into a job role and perform to a greater ability than I would have been able to if I hadn’t undergone this placement.

The office I was in, welcomed me and the other interns, we were always invited to team drinks and events. The department I was in had a flexible working policy (as all of IBM do) and we were able to work from home. This did sometimes mean that when you were in office it was very quiet. This didn’t bother me very much as I came in on days I knew it would be busy and got to work from home on the other days, which saved a lot of time commuting.

“Foundations” look you after, very well. You are assigned an EPM (Early Professionals Manager) that is a manager not aligned to your business unit/department but are there for you and your development. You are also given a task manager, who is part of you business unit/department and looks after you on a more day-to-day basis. Both my EPM and Task manager were always there to help.

This is definitely one of IBMs highlights. They are really keen for you to develop as a person and employee. Their "think40" policy, which aims for you to complete 40 hours of personal development during the year within your working hours, is great. They also provide you access to lots of different (and free) resources to help you develop. As well as think40, there is a mentoring and coaching culture within IBM.

IBM runs an "Intern to Grad" scheme, this is a scheme where interns are rated on their time at IBM. The rating is split equally between your role, your final presentation, your personal development and your contribution to wider IBM. You can then apply for a graduate job at IBM and if you score highly enough you can be put straight through to business interview stage or if your are in the next score bracket down, you are invited back for another assessment centre. Although, this all depends on whether IBM and their different business units are hiring. You may score really well on your intern year but not be offered a job, as IBM may not be hiring. I haven’t yet received the application form for "intern to grad" scheme but will definitely be applying for a graduate role.

I was in a London IBM office, but not at the main London office (Southbank). I was with 6 other interns, we all got on really well. We often went out after work and spent time together. We all also got on very well with the rest of the department and, as mentioned earlier, were always invited to there gatherings also. There was an intern Christmas and summer party, however, I did not attend these. Being away from the main London office meant we didn’t get to mix with many other interns but again, its what you make of it, if you want to make the effort to go to the main office and take part in activities there, you will meet more people.

I was based in London and obviously London is a very expensive place to live and socialise, so I chose to live at home for the year in Cambridge. It was a long commute (1.75 hours one way) but it was cheaper than living in London. This did mean it was more difficult to go out after work with friends as it took so long to get home. If you work in the London base though you are paid slightly more to help accommodate this extra expense.

As it was London, you are close to everything, lots of restaurants, bars and cool nightclubs. I personally didn’t go to many nightclubs whilst working in London. As I was living at home it was quite expensive to arrange a hotel to stay overnight and go out to nightclubs. The one thing I would say was that some nightclubs and even bars in London are rather strict about what you can wear out, they don’t like trainers very much!

There were lots of different clubs and activities to get involved in if you wished. For example, football clubs, netball clubs, running clubs. Also, there was an IBM club, which you can join for a (very) small fee, which sends you emails of activities (things like football or theatre tickets) that you can get for a lower price if you are a member of the IBM club. The team I was in as well was always very keen to go and do group activities outside the office, for example, we went on a boat trip, a theatre trip and to play crazy golf.