Transition & Transformation Project Office Support Review

Year In Industry with IBM provided me with invaluable experience in terms of getting familiar with office environment and working relations and allowed to gain an insight into corporate world, which proved to be crucial when it comes to choosing the type of career the one would want to pursue in the future.

Everyone in IBM treats interns as proper workers, which helps to experience working environment to the full extent. All of my colleagues appreciated my input and did their best to let me know if I could improve any aspect of my work and, in essence, considered myself to be their equal.

Since my day one in IBM I was offered excessive help with settling in and getting familiar with my role. The induction days provide interns with all the initial information that is required for a start, however IBM’s main strength is the mentoring system, which assigns each of the interns a separate manager, whose whole purpose is to guide them through the whole placement.

Mostly, throughout my placement there was a good balance in terms of the workload I received. My manager ensured that I had enough time before she assigned new tasks to me. However, due to the automation process, a lot of my obligations were eliminated towards the end of my placement and it proved to be a little difficult to find.

My responsibilities varied significantly throughout the placement, therefore I had a greater exposure to various levels of project management. Sometimes I was handling some minor aspects, like minutes-taking, other times I was put in charge of rather important issues, with people from various parts of the company relying on my expertise.

Placement in IBM provided me with the most crucial skills that will be required for professional working environment. I am quite confident that I will do significantly better in regular university activities, such as group work and presentations. Moreover, I am certain this will help with further career, as I will have all the necessary skills required for professional work already at the start of my placement.

There were quite a few interns in the office with me so I never felt left out. In the end, it was a great atmosphere and we all got along with each other and everyone working in here. In addition, more senior colleagues were always ready to provide any help required.

People in charge of the IBM Foundation clearly know what they are doing, as it was always quite clear what was required from the interns and there always were opportunities to further explore working life in IBM. There are areas for improvements though: sometimes interns in my location were not informed about the upcoming events in time.

There were numerous opportunities for personal development and training provided by the company. A special online portal was set up for this purpose, and regular checks were made throughout the year to make sure interns develop their skills. Overall, the endorsement of personal improvement is clearly imbedded into IBM’s corporate culture.

IBM is one of the largest multinational companies in the world, it puts a lot of effort into recruiting early professionals and it provides a great opportunity for them to improve and train further. Since I enjoyed my time on the placement, I will definitely try to get a grad role in the company.