This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
work -When starting work at IBM I was incredibly nervous due to not only having a new job in a very established company, but moving to London & meeting brand new people. I very much so enjoyed my role within BP, due to getting involved with different projects on a daily basis and getting to know many different people on the account. Additionally, I was lucky enough to gain a placement in London, which was my first choice. I have also made some amazing friendships with the fellow placement IBM'ers including the ones I share a house with currently and also while at work, which I very much hope I will keep in contact with. IBM has not only gave me a deep insight into a working environment and gave me the opportunity to improve on my skills, but enabled me to move to a new city & make strong friendships.
When joining the team I felt incredibly valued due to certain members of the team leaving and the need for extra support for very much required. My task manager when setting tasks has always been very appreciative on completion & provides feedback to support growing my skills.
When joining the team I had a two week handover which was excellent. That particular member of the team made sure she met with me in the office most days even though she was home based. This enabled me to go through processes & tasks and create notes, while also checking step by step actions with her to check all was correct. Additionally, my manager who works out of home office made sure that she met me once a week in another office to support my transition into her team. This made me feel incredibly welcomed and gave me confidence that I was able to fulfill my role. The only partial negative is that I extra time with the IBM'er who left would have been useful - However, this has improved my self-imitative to work out situations by myself, which has been a very useful learning curve.
The BP account I work on is growing rapidly, which has resulted in being very busy most days. This has been very helpful in improving my time management skills & working out what is a priority to complete first, a skill very useful when leaving IBM & finishing my final year of studies. Additionally IBM are very encouraging to not only get stuck into your role, but engage in outside activities (giveback) which has enabled me to spend a day renovating a shelter for poorly houses people & assessment center's for future IBM'ers
When joining the team I was very much involved in all of the cadence calls which are highly important within my team due to requiring updates from different PM's in different PgW. This gave me great insight into how they ran on a daily basis. Now being nearly to the end of my placement, finishing in August, I run my own cadence calls & contribute to calls led by other members of the team. Additionally, I have taken on additional tasks on top of my day-to-day role which have arose throughout the year, which have not only increased the responsibility but improved my time management skills. I have very much so felt that my task manager has always provided me with the opportunity to take on more responsibility throughout the time I have been at IBM which makes me feel very happy that she feels I am capable of doing so.
I feel that alongside any business degree a 12 months placement is incredibly important due to the economy being so competitive when trying to find jobs upon completing a degree. I think some people assume a placement will not give you the same responsibility as a normal employee, however this is definitely not the case for IBM. Not only have I grown my time management, self initiative and confidence, I very much think it has prepared me for applying back as a graduate
The Company
At the start of my placement I worked in an office just outside of London where it was very quiet, this was due to it being right next door the the biggest client account, and IBM'ers spending majority of their time on client site. Once I moved over to Southbank (The main London office) I have enjoyed this much more, due to the majority of placement students being based here. Everyone goes to lunch together & I found that it was a very social atmosphere
You are all able to access a tool called THINK40 which provides thousands of different sources of training material - You are advised to do around 40 hours of this within the year to keep your knowledge up to date with what is going on in IBM. It also enables you to research into what you think you would like to do after university. Graduates are offered a lot more training (courses etc)
There is a graduate scheme available at IBM. which is very appealing due to the investment in a graduates progression. However we all have been made aware that there are less graduate positions available this year - which some may find is unappealing.
The Culture
Very much so - I have been lucky enough to live with 3 other placement students in London and had an amazing year so far! However all events for placement students are managed by interns (Not IBM themselves) Additional in Southbank a lot of the placement students get together after work for socials.
London is very expensive, which means rent is also very high. I have had to made sure I have budgeted very well due to a placement. You really have to make sure to manage your costs etc in regards to living/travelling.
In London there is everything you're looking for - A wide range of events to go to. - I've personally never had a dull moment living here.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
London
May 2017