Business Development Consultant Review

Overall I really enjoyed my work placement. It gave me valuable insight into a large multinational corporation and also provided me with my first experience of working full time 9-5. Whilst at times I struggled, it was good to know that it was only going to be a year long and also that I had the support of my university should I experience any significant problems.

I struggled with this one as I was the first placement to work within my Business Unit. This meant that some of the people above (and therefore that I'd be working for) were unaware of exactly how and where a placement student can be used, and often were reluctant to give up their time to help me. Having said this, the work that I produced was done to the best of my ability and the feedback I received was thorough and supportive if not complementary..

I had two main managers during my placement. My task manager was the main person setting me work and the my other manager was there for more pastoral reasons. My task manager of course was in charge of my work load, and I felt the amount of work given to me was manageable. However, owing to the seniority of his position I somewhat struggled to seek support if / when needed owing to their busy schedule. On the other hand, my pastoral manager was less visible (naturally) but was incredibly helpful and responsive the few times they were called upon.

I felt that I always could have more to do. I would quite often be searching for work as I was of course keen to get the most out of my time in the company, however this was often easier said than done. Again this goes back to where those above me weren't used to having a placement student in their team and therefore were somewhat unsure how best to use me. Having said this, I'd often be given long term projects to do by myself which were of course exciting and enabled me to keep myself occupied for large periods of a time.

This varied significantly. I would often be responsible for producing review decks for my manager to present to his managers. This gave me a significant chunk of responsibility as the content i produced would be visible and presented to those very high up within my organisation. Additionally, I'd be required to organise and facilitate business development workshops for certain industries. Requiring me to contact and present to the likes of Client Executives and Subject Matter Experts in a meeting environment.

They will help me massively as my career progresses. I'm now even more experienced at working by myself, and having long term deadlines, which will of course be of great help when it comes to returning to university next year. Additionally, my exposure to senior personnel will be invaluable as it means that I'm now more confident in their presence, which will be a massive advantage in terms of my nerves for future interviews.

The atmosphere in the office was more informal than I had first predicted. Firstly, the structure and nature of my team meant that the majority of them were in fact rarely in the office. This presented some difficulties but was also positive in many ways as it enabled and encouraged travel. What was good about the office was that there were many other placement students based in the same location and thus socialising was well facilitated.

The placement scheme at IBM is incredibly well organised. They've been running it for years and each placement student is given both a task manager for day to day work and a mentor manager (EPM - Early Professionals Manager) for more pastoral assistance.

IBM presents and encourages many personal development areas external to one's day job. This is great as it enables you to get a taster of various other areas of the business. Additionally, it allows you to gain qualifications and badges within certain areas, which can then be presented on your LinkedIn profile, which will serve a massive advantage when it comes to future applications.

The grad scheme within IBM is also very well known but unlike some other companies, and what most people think, a placement at IBM is not a direct pathway into a graduate role. However, during a placement, there are plenty of opportunities and methods which one can use to help test certain areas, or shadow people within certain areas to gain invaluable insight into the structure of the area of business and what exactly the managers of these positions are looking for.

Yes, I was based in Southbank which has the largest cohort of placement students. Most thursdays we'd have drinks after work during summer, and there's also Christmas parties etc to socialise. There are also some other groups or sports teams which people can join to help develop other networks.

I lived back at home as I am from london, the commute costing me £6.60 a day (Zone 1-3 return). Socialising in London is rather expensive as pints are rarely under £4.50! Having said that, there are tonnes of different pubs / bars / clubs to choose from.

There's huge amount of choice in terms of nightlife, but again very expensive.

Yes, there are sports teams and many other groups which students can get involved with. They won't come looking for you but there are plenty of them out there.