Sales support Review

I really enjoyed my placement year at IBM. I was based in a fantastic location at IBM South Bank and was surrounded by a group of around 80 other placement students which made the year away from University very enjoyable. My job was fun, it was challenging at times but not so much that I didn't enjoy the role. It meant that I was able to push myself.

I felt very vlaued by my colleagues as I sat within a great team that provided me with a lot of support but gave me a lot of responsibility within the first month of me being at IBM. My managers were extremely caring and supportive, giving me compliments and showcasing my hard work and efforts.

My managers gave me a lot of support throughout the year. We met for monthly catch-ups to monitor my progress and to ensure that I was not struggling too much. They also gave me guidance into ideas for my future career.

After a month of learning the ropes of the role, I was given a lot of responsibility. I was organizing and attending events abroad by myself. I was handling business partner relationships alone and sorting all queries. By January I was extremely busy, juggling a lot of responsibilities at the same time.

I was given a lot or responsibility. I was organizing and attending events abroad by myself. I was handling business partner relationships alone and sorting all queries. By January I was extremely busy, juggling a lot of responsibilities at the same time.

I have developed a number of skills including communication skills with people I am unfamiliar with or over the phone. I am much more confident when presenting. I have also got a lot better at working in a team. All of this will help me in my degree.

On the whole there was a very positive, lively atmosphere in the office. At the end of quarter there were a lot of people in the office, however it did tend to get a lot quieter in the first 6 weeks of quarter.

Placement scheme was very well organised as there was a team dedicated to organising all the placement students and as there are so many of us they have to be organised. We all had an Early professionals manager that was similar to a tutor at university who you could go to with any concerns or queries.

The firm did not invest that much in training the placement students. They are concerned that we will not return after graduations and therefore do not want to spend vast sums of money on our training only to go to a competitor of theirs once we have graduated and left university.

At the moment there are very few graduate jobs available at IBM and therefore I am apprehensive about returning as I fear there will not be a permanent position for me at the firm once I have completed the graduate scheme that they offer.

There was a very good social scene between during my placement. There were around 80 placement students in the office I was working out of which meant it was easy to make friends who I often socialised with both during lunch and after work. There are a lot of bars around teh office which helped facilitate socialsing. I also had a very social team and we did a social activity all together in London at least every 3 months.

As I worked in london it was extremely expensive to socialise as food and drinks prices are so extortionate in the area. Also travel to and from work is extremely expensive

The nightlife is london is fantastic as there is so much variety and so many places to go. There were not a lot of clubs in the local area of where I worked so we had to travel slightly further afield to get a decent night out.

There were not that many opportunities to get involved with outside of work. There was one netball team and maybe a few self-organised football teams but that was very much it.