Sales Support Review

Working at IBM has been a great experience. Not only have I met an abundance of interns whilst working here, it is also a great company to learn a dynamic range of skills. I have had the opportunity to travel to Milan and Stockholm to meet Business Partners and host events and this has created great variety in my job. I have a great team who I love coming into work with on a day to day basis and I have had the chance to work on many different projects increasing my exposure among senior members at IBM.

I was lucky enough to work in a very dynamic team of interns and graduates this year. We are all based in South Bank and sit together with our team including our manager. This has allowed us to allow develop great personal and professional relationships with one another acting as a great support system throughout the year. I have also had the opportunity to work with very senior members of the Watson Customer Engagement team who always congratulate us and make us feel valued. Whilst I have been lucky enough to receive praise from my colleagues I do think that IBMs corporate culture doesn't offer enough support and reward for working well.

I am one of few interns who gets to work closely with their manager on a day to day basis. This made a tremendous impact of my learning, motivation and understanding of the company. Working alongside someone with many years experience at IBM has meant that he has been able to help me network and offer me an in depth knowledge of the company with great career advice. I speak with my manager on a daily basis and he is always more than happy to offer support on all of my tasks and any career advice I may need.

The great thing about my role is that all of the work is on going and I do not receive new tasks on a day to day basis. My work load would depend on the time of the year. For example, during the end of Quarter we would all see our work load dramatically increase as their are high priory deals that come through last minute and my team is responsible for a lot of the paper work associated with this. Events has also been a large part of my role. We co-ordinate a range of events throughout the year and this has kept me extremely busy as I have organized 30 in total across Europe.

I have been given a lot of responsibility from the day I arrived. The interns where given a 2 week intensive training on the role and from here we where thrown into the deep end. As we sit with the graduates they are always here to offer support. During my first few weeks at IBM I was given the opportunity to own my own project from the initial concept to the final execution. Due to the success of the project we launched it across Europe.

The skills I have developed at IBM are transferable to both my degree and future career prospects. I have developed a profound understanding of how business etiquette in large firms and the most effective way to communicate and negotiate in deals. I can now say with confidence that I know the structure of a large corporation, the red tape, the operational systems in place that allow a business to function. I have developed communication skills that I will be able to use in a more practical level in terms of future interviews.

During the end of quarter the office is generally very busy with a buzzing atmosphere. However, as my placement has come to an end I have slowly watched the office become emptier. As IBM is flexi working many of the employees work from home.

Overall my placement has been very structured and well set up. I have not encountered any issues.

Unfortunately due to structural changes IBM has not had much funding which has meant they have not been able to invest in us very heavily this year. A lot of budget cuts have meant that our EPMs have not had travel approved to come and visit us face to face.

I did placement year to realize what I do want to do in the future in addition to a role I don't want to do. Whilst I have had a great year at IBM there is to much red tape and admin based roles. They do not have a strong marketing sector and a lot of the roles are not client facing and require you to be sat at your desk behind a laptop.

IBM take on roughly 100 interns therefore this was the perfect opportunity to meet lots of young people in the same position as me.

The cost of living in London is extremely high and it is difficult to find a balance when coming to budgeting.

South Bank has a great range of bars and restaurants to socialize in after work. It is also great that it's on the river.

Yes lots of opportunities if you know where to look!