DEFRA Identity and Access Management Team Leader Review

As a whole I have really enjoyed my year at IBM. I was based in their Warwick office - although it is very quiet in the Warwick office, I formed good friendships with the other interns based there. At times my job role was not what I expected, but this varied, and I was able to make the most out of my 12 months at IBM.

In my job role I felt extremely valued. Both my Managers and colleagues treated me as if I had been working at IBM for years. After just two months, I was offered a team leader role. This was a great deal of resposibility to take on after such a short amount of time.

At IBM you are given two types of manager: - Your 'Task Manager' oversees your actual job role, and assigns you your work. - Your 'Early Professionals Manager' is more of a pastoral manager, and ensures you are enjoying your time at IBM. I felt supported by both my managers at all times, and they were always on call to help. However, my EPM was not based in Warwick, so I only saw her 2/3 times in 12 months, which was a shame.

The amount I was busy varied massively on a day to day basis. At the beginning of my year, there were just two of working on what should have been a team of five, and so I was EXTREMELY busy every hour of everyday. However after about 6 months, our team size increased to five, and so work load was more evenly distributed.

I was very fortunate in the fact that after just two months I was offered a Team Leader position. This gave me the opportunity to manage a team of people, and take on extra day to day responsibilities. Being a Team Leader was the best thing that happened to me at IBM!

I have not felt that skills I have learnt have especially aided my university education. However, I am very confident that the skills will be massively beneficial in future job roles. I have gained a lot of confidence in the work place, and will be more likely to put myself forward for more 'challenging' roles.

The IBM office in Warwick is extremely quiet. There are also only about 10 interns - which is not many compared to other offices such as London Southbank. I would hope that in future IBM encourage more interns to be based in Warwick. Secondly, all events for interns are based in London, and often interns from Warwick are unable to go due to a lack of expense approvals.

To begin with, the internship was poorly organised. The job role I applied for was not the job I ended up doing, and was in a completely different line of business. However, once I was settled in, the organisation improved dramatically, I felt I had structure and 'goals' at all times.

As stated previously, I felt extremely invested in by IBM following being offered a Team Leader position. This gave me so many more opportunities to develop over the year, and build on important skills such as leadership, organisation etc. I also felt very valued by my colleagues for the entirety of my placement.

Personally, I will not be applying back to IBM as a graduate. The only graduate roles offered are consulting roles in London. I am not looking to be a consultant, and neither am I looking to move to London. I do find that future opportunities at IBM are quite restrictive.

The IBM office in Warwick is extremely quiet. There are also only about 10 interns - which is not many compared to other offices such as London Southbank. I would hope that in future IBM encourage more interns to be based in Warwick. Secondly, all events for interns are based in London, and often interns from Warwick are unable to go due to a lack of expense approvals.

My hometown is Warwick and so I leaved at home for the duration of my placement, and so of course this was cheaper for me than it would have been to move away. That said, nearby towns are relatively good value, of course dependent on where you go. It is however, dramatically cheaper than London!!

The nightlife in neighboring towns such as Leamington Spa is relatively good. There are LOTS of bars and restaurants, however very few nightclubs. It is also only a short train to Birmingham, in which the nightlife is very good. It completely depends what sort of thing you're in to as to where you should go.

IBM have recently cut expense travel approvals. As I said earlier, most events are in London, and so us interns based in Warwick were unable to go. I feel that if IBM employ interns in locations other than London, there should at least be a little wiggle room regarding letting them go.