Node.js SDK Developer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire placement! It was well planned out and IBM really made me feel at home. I worked in Hursley which is a fantastic location and I was lucky enough to be able to get experience working with several different departments. I also met a lot of influential people in IBM which I look forward to working with when I return as a graduate.

I was trusted with many key tasks that allowed me to really broaden my horizons. I worked in a small team meaning that every team member had to pull their weight and so it was critical that I kept to my deadlines. I was lucky enough to work with some fantastic people who were always willing to help me when I needed it.

I had both a line manager and task manager. Both of these managers were absolutely brilliant throughout my placement and ensured that I had regular meetings with both of them. I feel that I always had someone to go to if I had a problem or needed help and they were always very understanding of my situation.

I worked a standard 9-5 day. My hours were flexible meaning that I could technically work other hours as long as I had prior approval from my manager. I worked on several different projects exposing me to many new technologies that I had not previously seen. Although I was only expected to work 9-5, I did often find myself working into the evenings but not because I felt that I needed to, but more that I wanted to.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility on my placement but in a company such as IBM, you are always going to be under some form of umbrella. In the second half of my placement, I found myself in a team lead role where I had a lot more responsibility and I was working out in the open representing the public side of IBM.

Firstly, I have gained a year’s worth of industry experience which will help me in my future career choices. I’ve made new contacts, new friends, and learnt new skills and I’ve gained insight into new developments in this sector. I’ve gained more experience of teamwork and improved my interpersonal skills. I’ve also benefited from regular assessment and feedback. I believe that my placement will benefit my career because I think that employers prefer an applicant with experience.

I worked in a generally young team. We therefore had a lot in common and I feel that we worked well. My manager made it very clear to me that fun in the office was a positive thing and that working in a positive atomosphere had a significant effect on peoples work rate. There was always plenty of workplace "banter"!

IBM has two schemes that they use to actively encourage you to learn new skills and stay up to date with training. The first scheme is called Think 40. The idea being that IBM gives every employee 40 hours a year to learn something new. These hours are logged on a system and your manager will analyse them at your end of year review. The other system that we have is called “Give Back”. This is where IBM allows all employees to spend on average half a day a week working on another project. This can be something completely different like giving a talk at a school or just an opportunity to work on another IBM product to get a better understanding of the company as a whole. I have taken a few weeks out over the last year to participate in Give Back activities. My first activity was attending a college recruitment fair and I was able encourage students to follow my footsteps and explain what I do in my job. I have also helped out at six labs assessment centres which I really enjoyed as it gave me the opportunity to see how the days are run from a different perspective. I believe that this valuable experience will help me when I attempt to return to IBM after my degree. I have also spent a lot of time working with other IBM projects on GitHub such as IBM_DB, MQLight, Node-Red, Node-Report and Appmetrics. Being able to contribute my knowledge of node back to other IBM departments has been really enjoyable and has enabled me to grow my internal IBM contacts list.

I have received a graduate job at IBM. I was also very lucky to be able to remotely work part time as a contractor during my final year of university helping my financially! The internal graduate application process was very clearly set out and I found that my placement year was more like a year long interview.

I paid £400 a month in rent for a room in a house.