Financial Spend Analyst Review

The placement being my first fixed job provided me a great opportunity to develop basic skills required in any professional role. As a financial analyst I was able to get an idea about how the business worked. Meeting other interns and working with new people made the experience slightly more dynamic. Perhaps having more opportunities to shadow other departments would have made it better, as I partially wanted to spend this year understanding what role suits me best.

My team were friendly and approachable throughout the year. Working with other IBM colleagues via online chat helped to achieve goals and complete tasks. I was not able to work closely with most of the team because of our difference in roles however it was not difficult to liaise. I felt I was able to discuss my thoughts or concerns with team members if required.

My supervisor provided feedback on my performance during our 3/6/12 month milestones. We had regular informal conversations to discuss any concerns or queries that had recently occurred. Perhaps being able to have weekly catch ups with my line manager would have helped me to keep progressing through my placement rather than getting 'stuck' in the same position after a few months in the role, however given that finance is a busy business unit this was often difficult to arrange.

My role was extremely busy day to day, so emails piled up if I did another task or left for a long lunch break. I often worked late hours to keep up with it during busy periods. Many of my tasks became admin type of work, which was not something I was hoping to do during a placement year. However as my year progressed this quietened down and an extra team member helped to remove a lot of stress.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my placement, whereby many people relied on my work to be correct and completed by a certain time. This work was sometimes reporting based and other times it was actual money-flow which would impact our bottom line. The cut-offs made the work more intense. The responsibilities were often in a good way, rather than something that I couldn't handle

My skills improved at a high rate in my first few months and I developed new skills each month through the year. My excel skills in particular had shown progress as I understood the software a lot more. Other than the handover of the role, as well as ome conversations with my team and a course on basic accounting, there was no training courses which I would have found beneficial. Although not directly related to my degree i'm sure most the generic skills i've learned will be useful in any financial based role.

The office varied - sometimes quiet but during the end of the month it was quite busy. It wasn't much different than what I expected.

The placement was set up with a good structure, allowing us to review our progress each few months via a journal. The journal included feedback from the task manager which helped me to see how I can improve. More social events with interns or other companies' interns would have been a great way to network.

Obtaining a graduate role seems to be competitive and a limit of spaces available. However the opportunity to apply after a placement seems to make the process slightly easily provided you perform well in the year. There are a variety of options available, and the company provide a good opportunity to get an insight into this during one of their events for placement students.

The placement students arranged regular social events like dinners or nights out. It was easy to socialise and get along with interns in the IBM Portsmouth location. There were some events organised with the London location too where we could meet other interns. With the team we often had team building days where we would practice how to work well together through various exercises, and then spend the rest of the day having a meal together or playing a game.

The living costs around the area were fairly low around the company building. I lived towards Portsmouth town where the university was and just round the corner from the seafront, to enjoy more of a social lifestyle during my year. Social costs were also fairly low in the area compared to the salary paid for the placement.

The nightlife was great with a variety of places to go to, and a student atmosphere during the academic year.

A few activities outside of work but not enough that I was interested in myself. Most activities were arranged among interns and friends.