Watson Customer Engagement Intern Review

I was lucky to get a role which was mainly external working with business partners around Europe. This gave me a variety of people to work with as well as exposure in to the wider industry I was placed in. There was also different tasks to take care of on a daily basis which meant the placement wasn't too repetitive, even after nearly a year.

I felt highly valued by my peers and managers throughout my placement as they often relied on me explicitly to produce work and results. I alone was tasked with internal reporting, trouble shooting and large events which meant that I made a difference to the business and that I was in demand and valued during my time with IBM.

I always felt that support was available to me during my placement. The graduate staff on my team were usually able to answer any questions due to their greater experience. For high level questions, the managers I worked with were always approachable and happy to listen and make rapid decisions. I never felt that I was lacking guidance and unable to get it.

The pace of work varied massively throughout the year. At some points part of my team would have to do some of my work for me because of a particularly high work load in my job responsibility area. However at points in the year like the summer it was very quiet and would get boring at times. However for the vast majority of the time my workload was well balanced and I had enough to occupy me.

I was given a great deal of responsibility from the start due to the nature of the team I was placed in. I immediately had to start working with external partners and advise them accurately on certain products and relationships. This often meant that I would be contacted individually by these partners and I would have to be knowledgeable enough to answer them. I also had to organise a number of events which involved me spending thousands of pounds and being solely responsible for their smooth running.

As an intern role there was little leadership development as my work was all dictated my managers set above me. This meant that the only real skills developed were time keeping, organisation, work ethic and just general experience of office work.

Good - there was roughly 150 interns and lots of graduates. My team were all either interns or grads so the social atmosphere was great. However there were so many interns we couldn't come together as one group. Other IBM offices like Warwick and Hursley had better intern socials because the group size (40/50) was more manageable and they had less to do socially not being in London.

Well organised in terms of the HR - there is a clear structure to your self development and what is expected from you.

There was no real special training or hard skills taught, my learning all took place on the job itself

I would recommend the 2 year grad scheme if you can get on it but I wouldn't stay for longer.

Yes - lots of the Southbank interns live around the Clapham area and people quickly started making friendship groups which was great since we had all moved away from our university locations. There was also a Christmas and summer boat party.

Very expensive - the cost of rent in the Clapham area left me with roughly £400 a month of disposable income and then I had to pay for a phone, gym etc. You will need student finance or external support to make your year socially worthwhile. Otherwise you should request to work at a location outside of London and live at home or find a significantly cheaper level of rent. Although some of the bars near the office did a 10% discount for IBM employees it was still expensive.

Southbank nightlife itself as an area of London is almost non-existent. It had a good atmosphere during the day with a food market and small attractions which was great for lunch breaks. Although if you are living in London you have the whole city which was great.

Yes - there's a number of sports teams, trips abroad like skiing and volunteering schemes that are nearly always desperate for participants.