Enterprise Applications Analyst Review

Overall, my placement year at IBM was a fantastic experience which has opened many doors for me and my future career. Before coming to IBM I did not understand what I wanted to do as career after my degree. However with IBM being such a big company and having the ability to build a network and initiate conversations and shadowing opportunities.

I felt valued by my colleagues.Every time I was given a task my manager would explain the reason for it and this made me feel that everything I did whether it be a small reporting task or a big project was important and needed to be done.

Management are easy to talk to and everyone is very willing to offer help and support if you are ever struggling. If you are having problems with work you are doing then you can speak to your task manager or team members and they will be more than willing to help. If you are having a more personal problem you can always talk to you early professionals manager and they will help you.

At the start I was not that busy but i think that it was a good thing as it lets you settle in to your role nicely before having the work piled on. As you get more experienced within the company you will be trusted with more work and they will pile it on but I believe it is good to be busy and gain as much experience as possible.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility. The most responsibility I was when I was given pretty much free roam to add some IBM marketing to a client centre in Warwick. I ran the project on my own with support from my manager but I was expected to source everything myself. You get more responsibility the more you prove yourself.

I have learnt a lot while working at IBM, One of the main things I will definitely take away with me is goal directed planning, I found that learning how to organise myself and plan ahead made a project run a lot smoother. I have also learnt basic sales technique which I will take forward in my life whether it be trying to sell myself for a job or if I work in sales.

Friendly in all of the offices I worked in. Southbank had the most interns and grads so there were quite a lot of young people who you could socialise with at lunch etc. On client sites I worked on everyone was still very friendly and approachable.

Very well organised. They have a well established placement scheme. Each intern has an early professional manager who looks after you and you have reviews with them every 3 months. Throughout the year you have to complete a placement journal. This is a good way to track your progress and it is also looked at by hiring managers when you are applying to be a graduate.

Everyone is set with a challenge of completing 40 hours of training throughout the year. This can range from online courses to training days. If you want to learn about something specific you can search through the training portal and there will likely be a training course on it. Also if you wanted to learn something or work in a specific area then asking your manager is a good way to learn as they will be able to get you in to contact with someone who is an expert.

I have already applied for the Grad scheme. they offer a intern to grad job role that you can apply for while on your placement. This will mean that you can find out before your final year whether you have a job after uni or not. IBM is such a large company so there are a lot of opportunities to go in to something that you are interested in, For example if you wanted to go in to project management it would be very easy to find someone who works in that area and speak to them about it before applying.

The social scene was very good between the interns. Weekly drinks were organised while i was working in South bank and while working in Warwick we would regularly go out for drinks and food. Everyone was very friendly and approachable. They also had Christmas parties both at Southbank and Warwick.

I was commuting to work from Reading while working in London. This was quite expensive and London in general is expensive for food and drinks. Warwick was a lot cheaper and i stayed with my family in Coventry so the commute was a lot easier and cheaper.

The nightlife was very good. London is always buzzing with loads going on and also living in Reading I was living with my university colleagues so the nightlife was just student nightlife. Overall there was loads to do.

There was a number of opportunities to take part in out of work activities. IBM had sporting events throughout the year and even had a ski trip. They also offer a IBM club membership where you can get discounted music tickets and comedy shows.