Business Operations Support Review

I really enjoyed my 12 months working at IBM. This is the first time I have experienced working for a full year in an industry/business. I was lucky enough to visit many IBM offices/locations which made the experience even more enjoyable, as every working environment was different ! At the very beginning of the year I felt very welcomed by my team and office, I am now towards the end of my year and have developed great personal as well as working relationships.

My role at IBM HR (HR Business Development) was virtual, where I was part of a European team. I always felt appreciated by my fellow colleagues, I did not feel 'singled out' being one of the interns on the team but accepted as a usual full time employee. I was always credited for my work and the team would always support me with any university requirements I had during the placement year. Now at the end of my year I feel I have developed great working relationships with my manager and team members.

IBM are great with giving interns on the job training, I started my role with a handover with the previous intern. This handover was a great way to learn the main tasks in my role to ensure I was confident in doing my day job. My manager was always available if I needed any support or guidance with anything, Being in a virtual role my manager and team were not in the office, however I still received great support when needed. IBM make use of a variety of communication platforms with the new agile ways of working. I could easily communicate with my team through instant messaging systems, email or teleconferencing.

Being involved in my business unit - HRBD and working in the acquisitions field; there are rarely quiet periods from an HR side of things. However I feel as though this was not a issue as I enjoyed always having things to work on. There were always opportunities for me to get involved in new deals/acquisitions or support any ad-hoc work and extra side projects. I always made sure I was involved in a project as this enabled me to get the most out of my experience. Having 1-1 calls with my manager every week was a great way to share what I was working on and also to pick up new work/projects. During my placement year I found myself working on different tasks which all required different skills.

During my year a IBM I was given more responsibility than i initially expected. This is something I really enjoyed as I have not had the chance to be in this type of situation before. I would be entrusted to work on acquisitions and projects with European colleagues and even senior management. This makes me reiterate my point above where I mentioned how much my team (and extended team) value interns. I felt as though I received a good amount of responsibility during my time at IBM.

I am really glad I decided to take a year out and complete my year in industry at IBM. Without completing this placement year I would not have the skills I have acquired over the last 12 months. The skills I have acquired over this year will most definitely help for my final year at Loughborough and also in the long-term. This year has given me great insight into the working world, where I was able to take a step back from being a student and begin working on my career plans. I have developed many skills; the one skill I would highlight is adaptability. It was always crucial to adapt to new ways of working and situations at work and this is something I will also look to implement at univeristy for my final year.

Majority of employees would come into the office on Monday to Thursday, with Friday working from home. Therefore the office has a good atmosphere at the beginning of the week. My role is in HR therefore being based in Portsmouth - the HR HQ meant that the HR area was really busy during busy working periods. There would also be different business units around the North Harbour area.

There was great a great on-boarding process at IBM and this carried on all until the off-boarding process. IBM were very well organized with HR/recruitment side of things which made the on-boarding process very easy and straight forward.

There was great on the job training in the placement year, as I mentioned before I received a great handover with the previous intern. This enabled me to fully understand my day to day tasks/role and also be comfortable once the current intern had left. We would always have the opportunity to take on more work and side projects which helped us develop our capabilities and additional skills.

As interns already working for IBM, toward the end of the placement graduate roles and applications opened up internally within the company. This process is similar to the internship application where we would have to complete application forms, interviews and also final reviews (at the end of our placement). There is a chance to be 'fast tracked' to the graduate schemes or applications as the process opens up internally first before being open to the public graduates. There are many different roles available to choose from depending on your interest and expertise/degree.

This depends on how much effort you put into this. For my year all of the interns would go to lunch a the same time and sit together in the canteen.This made the experience very enjoyably and beneficial as we could share our experiences. We could also meet up together outside of work and take part in extra curricular activities/giveback projects together at work.

As I am from London, I found living in Portsmouth - Southsea area cheaper. This goes for renting/house process and also nightlife. There is always the perks of some places allowing student discount. As well as IBM rewards scheme which allows discounts on certain (online) stores.

As my University is in the area this adds to the buzz of the town and nightlife. There is also Southampton and Bournemouth nearby which adds to the different options available, There are many bars/pubs and clubs in the South Sea area in Portsmouth. e.g. in the area of Albert Road.

There are many options as I mentioned before with the University close by. Interns could also arrange their own parties and social get togethers such as meals and days out away from Portsmouth. There are many places to eat near the Portsmouth North Harbour office e.g. port solent which is around a 10 minute drive from work or less. This consists of many popular restaurants