Finance Resource Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at IBM. During my year I got to meet some very senior executives and work closely with the CFO of the UK & Ireland which was a good experience for me. I also had many different ad hoc tasks as part of my role which were different to my normal finance role which I enjoyed.

I feel like I fit into the finance team at IBM very well, during the first 6 months of my placement I was trusted enough to take over a reporting role from a full time senior employee. I am also responsible for arranging finance moves/events which mean I communicate a lot with many different employees in finance and they are always very thankful of the work I do behind the scenes to ensure they're working days run smoothly.

Some days I received a lot of help from my manager, however there were some days they were very busy and I had to try and figure things out myself, which I think in the long run has helped me. The team I worked in was very small so sometimes I was alone if my team were out of the office. My manager was always there via email/messenger/phone if I did urgently need him which was very helpful.

At first I found it hard to balance my workload, then picking up my new role I began to really struggle with balancing my old tasks with the new responsibilities. Some days I was less busy which I then used to complete my university e-portfolio and take part in any giveback!

During my placement year I felt like I was given a lot of responsibility. I was in charge of organising the finance teams move to an office downstairs, in charge of setting up quarterly presentations for everyone in finance to attend and the biggest responsibility I was given is picking up a new role.

The main skill I will take with me from this year is confidence, working with people I don't know will benefit me in the long run as at the start of the year I was low on confidence whereas I am now more confident to communicate with people I don't know. Also, my excel skills have improved massively which I am hoping will help me in my final year. However, I don't feel like many of my accounting/business skills have been built on during my placement year.

Most days working in the office was very enjoyable, during the year we moved to the downstairs office which was a change in atmosphere as people didn't like it at first, however it is now a lot more social and open which I like. I speak to most people in the office daily, however you can figure out from the vibe in the office whether or not to speak to your team or keep yourself to yourself for the day.

I feel like my placement ran very smoothly, it was very quick and I applied through my university and I didn't have any problems. At IBM they have a good foundation team which are dedicated to interns which is good if you ever need any help which is different from your role.

I don't feel like I have had much training which will benefit me in the long run. I feel like the company did invest in me and making me better in my current role however I'm not sure it will benefit my studies at university. It will benefit me in the future with my confidence though.

I would like to come back to IBM, however I could not come back as a graduate in the role I'd like to do in finance. If they offered graduate finance roles it is definitely a company I would like to work for as I have really enjoyed my time here.

All the interns at IBM often go to lunch/breaks together and often communicate via IBM messenger, some interns are a lot closer than others and it depends on if you want to be social or not. There weren't many intern events organised by IBM and we didn't see much of each other outside of work. There were different groups of interns which did see each other more often.

I lived at home during my placement year so money was never a problem and it also meant I could continue with the social life I had at university. There isn't loads to do in Portsmouth, however there is a beach and some interns enjoyed the nightlife here if they hadn't been before.

The nightlife in Portsmouth is ok, there are 3 main nightclubs which people often went to on different days of the week, some of the interns sometimes went on nights out together however they all seemed to prefer they nightlife they had in their home towns whereas I live in Portsmouth so am used to nights out here.

Yes, IBM offer a scheme called GiveBack which is where you can get involved in different events, such as Interview Days at schools, assessment centers and many other things. These are easy to get involved with and there was always something different which you could take part in and was good experience.