Extreme Blue Intern - Sales Support Review

I enjoyed most of the placement. Initially the workload was slow however this worked to my advantage as it gave me and my new team time to settle in to the company and find our feet. The number of interns in the office was fantastic as we could all support each other. There are tonnes of opportunities available to you at IBM and the year is what you make of it!

Very valued. My role required me to lease with consultants ranging from Graduates to Executives. This gave me great exposure throughout the year and allowed me to meet people from all areas of the business. I was fortunate to be in a team with six other interns which was great fun and made the day-to-day tasks fly by!

My Personal Development Manager was superb throughout my time at IBM, always making time to chat and even providing feedback on my Graduate application form. My task manager changed half way through my placement however we were consistently provided with performance feedback and areas for improvement.

The work load completely varied often on a week to week basis. Quarter end was especially busy for my team however between these times we could be quiet. This did however give us chance to make use of the great number of development tools available to you at IBM and take part in Giveback at such places as Twickenham and Stamford Bridge!

I was given the level of responsibility that was way beyond my expectations. For a couple of months it was my sole responsibility to run the operations of our department. I also managed and had a full control of two different budgets.

I don't think my specific degree knowledge was used at all throughout the year. However realistically that is not the point of a placement. My aim was to gain professional experience and I gained plenty of that. My confidence, professionalism and communication skills all grew throughout the year and I feel I will be much more focused going back to university.

Bit of a mixed bag really. Fridays were particularly dead in the office as most people chose to work from home, if allowed. The rest of the week the office was always busy and good fun. The open desk areas make it really easy to meet new people giving you great networking opportunities.

It is really well structured, there are two sides to it. There is the professional development side to it, the sort of career development aspect of things. Then there is the day to day job that comes with it, even that has a lot of learning opportunities. Overall a really good job!

We had regular work appraisals, at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 month presentation and final review write up. In addition to this, there were a number of skills roadshows that we could attend, to improve our employ-ability and CV skills.

This is the only part where IBM let me down. It took four months for a job offer to come through despite being part of the most successful team in Europe.It is difficult and a rigorous process but giving it a go shouldn't be too bad.

Always things going on at the weekend and drinks whenever anyone felt the need! I think there were approx 80 other students in my Southbank office so it was great fun throughout. There was a Facebook group setup before joining allowing you to find other students to live with.

It wasn't too bad as it was outer London, a lot of places were fairly reasonably priced. The cost of living was also fairly reasonable.. However Opal/Walkabout happy hours certainly helped with that one.

The nightlife around Southbank is pretty good with loads of bars and restaurants. For a later night out Shoreditch isn't a far Tube ride away and a walk across the river takes you to Strand and beyond!

You are encouraged to take part in Giveback, where you give something back to the community. There is a database where you can apply for these or you can run your own! I personally ran a half marathon in aid of READ International which was organised through IBM.