Client Relationship Representative Review

I really enjoyed my placement, as I learned a lot about working in a business environment and had the opportunity to develop valuable skills. I was also able to learn about different areas of the business and will now be able to continue researching these fields during my final year at university.

I felt like I had a real business value as I worked closely with the Director of my department and was responsible for making sure he had all of the information he needed for his meetings and reviews with various people at senior management level. I also felt valued by the wider team as they regularly came to me for help with getting access to data.

I had two managers during my placement, a task manager and an EPM (early professionals manager). My EPM changed part way through the year, which meant that I had to form a relationship with my new EPM, but I found both my EPM and especially my task manager very helpful in giving me guidance on how to make the most out of my placement.

As I was in a Sales area, the amount of work I had varied throughout the quarter. I tended to be quite busy at the start of the quarter when I needed to make new reporting systems and at the end when there was a lot of pressure to make our targets. I had less work in the middle of the quarter, but used this time to complete education and learn about the wider business.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement as I was responsible for producing presentations and data analysis for the Director of my department, who used the information I provided to make decisions which influenced the direction the business is going to take in the future. I was also given freedom to develop new files and insights into data wherever I felt it would be beneficial.

I was able to develop Excel skills, including formulas and macros in VBA which will be extremely helpful when applying for graduate roles. I also got an insight into different areas of technology such as Big Data and Machine Learning which will help in my final year of university as I am planning on doing my dissertation in this area.

The atmosphere in the office was variable depending on the day of the week and the time in the quarter. On Mondays and Fridays a lot of people tended to work from home, but near the end of each quarter the office was busier and there was a better atmosphere in the office.

The placement was organised well by the Foundation team and there was a clear structure in place which meant that the system was fair for all of the interns at IBM. We had a 3 month review, a 6 month probation review and a final presentation at the end of the year. We also had to keep a placement journal which meant we could keep track of everything we learnt and achieved throughout the year.

There was a lot of opportunity to complete online training during the placement. I completed a number of courses including Design Thinking, Big Data and Data Science. Although there were a lot of courses available to complete, it was completely up to you to find the time to do the courses and was up to you how much time to invest in your education.

As a result of speaking to people in different areas of the business, I have found a graduate role which I think I would be a good fit for. I am therefore applying back to IBM for a graduate role and am hoping to gain a place on the scheme, but still have to go through the assessment centre and interview stages of the application process.

There was a great social scene as I was based in Southbank. There are roughly 150 interns in the Southbank office, so people often go out for a drink after work along the south bank or in London. There is a good intern community and different groups who organise events throughout the year.

The cost of living and socialising in London is quite high, so most interns tend to not have much money left over at the end of a month. The best option if you have to rent in London is to do a flat share with other interns (either at IBM or elsewhere) in an area just outside Central London, such as Clapham or Tooting.

The nightlife in central London is great, and with such a large group of interns there will always be people to go out with. Interns tend to go out on Thursday nights, and there is usually a Christmas Party organised by the interns each year, which is a great chance for the whole cohort to get together outside of work.

There are various sports clubs (e.g. netball and football) which you can easily get involved in outside of work, and compete against other company teams. The various IBM teams all compete against other companies at the annual Corporate Games, which provides a great opportunity to get involved in activities outside of work and to meet people from other departments.