Digital Commerce Support Review

I've enjoyed the new opportunities this placement has given me and the wide range of people I've been able to meet however, the role itself is not something I would be interested in doing in the future.

Although I feel like I integrated into my team well, there was still always the feeling of being 'just an intern'.

As I said I feel like I integrated into my team well which meant I was always able to go to my manager/team leader for any support or guidance. The placement itself is well structured which meant my manager was able to help me progress well throughout the year.

This varied day by day as quiet often my tasks came up as and when, but I never felt like I was too busy or struggling to cope with my work load and on a quiet day I was always able to find new tasks to do.

I was left to do my daily job and regular tasks without ever feeling like someone was checking up on me, but I feel like the job itself doesn't require a high level of responsibility.

This year has given me a good working routine and enabled me to develop some life skills however, there wasn't any training on specific skills that I could take away with me.

The floor where I worked could often be very quiet and there wasn't a lot of interaction between teams however, there was always a good atmosphere within my team. Everyone was open and welcoming when I first started and this attitude remained throughout the year,

The placement is well structured right from the beginning, you follow a plan with IBM's Foundation scheme and have scheduled reviews throughout the year.

There were reviews throughout the year which enabled you to set your own objectives and work on them, there was also a careers event aimed at helping us when applying for future jobs but, there wasn't any training opportunities.

There hasn't been much encouragement to apply for the graduate scheme but we have been told hiring is slow therefore it is unlikely we will be able to get a job back.

I was lucky that at my location there was a lot of other interns (30-35) so we did have a good group of friends and a good social life.

Being a university city the cost of living is probably average, I wouldn't say it was cheap but easy to manage with the wage.

In terms of clubs there isn't a massive variety - there's only 2 main clubs - but there is plenty of pubs and some bars, and as said there is a good number of interns so there is usually a good number of people to go out with.

Yes there was a lot to do outside of my daily job. IBM run a Giveback scheme which enables you to volunteer on a number of different projects such as running mock interviews for high school students or helping to run intern assessment centers. You are also encouraged to shadow other IBMers to gain some knowledge on other roles in different areas of the business. There was also some social events with my team such as a pub quiz and christmas do's.