UKI Security Delivery Support Review

I enjoyed my placement with IBM, I was in a team of 5 interns meaning that we were all new and developed together. This made the stat of my placement easier and less stressful as there were other individuals who were learning about the organisation and processes with me. The people were welcoming and happy to help with all the questions I had bringing me up to speed and it was rewarding to give back to these people once I had developed my knowledge and skills.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, during a change of the organisation structure I was able to support my new manager in his new role, which he ensure I knew was appreciated. Also, when I took on new tasks I would receive a lot of support and feedback to help me improve and develop but also to tell me where I was doing well.

As part of the foundation team, I was assigned an EPM (Early Professionals Manager), the EPMs are all happy to provide as much guidance and support as you would like, but it is up to you how much you reach out to them. All interns have a 3,6 and 12 month review with an optional 9 month one, where you are able to communicate any issues or ask any questions. My manager was also happy to do the same but again this time would have to be booked in by myself rather than just offered, therefore your experience would differ based on your manager and the level of support/guidance you want.

I have been fairly busy on a daily basis with some days being busier than others. This depended on the amount of adhoc requests I had in the week. At the start of my placement I produced multiple reports with similar data which took a lot of time but as I progressed I merged these reports and made them more automated so that they would take less time. This reduced the amount of time I spent building reports everyday and allowed me to spend more time on adhoc requests.

I was given a considerable amount of responsibility. My day to day role was to support the delivery and operations managers. This meant that I had a lot of responsibility producing the reports they needing and understanding the data as to give them the information they need to explain the numbers to more senior members of the team.

The skills I learnt in my placement role will assist me in the data analysis aspect of my degree course. This is as I have become more aware of the trends of particular data and how to identify discrepancies in these trends and how to move forward from these (identifying the issues or reasons for the difference). Also as i work with utilisation metrics, I was able to base my dissertation on my role and the effect of changes made.

The atmosphere in the office was very positive. As I was in a team of interns we all sat together with our manager which meant we could support each other throughout the year whilst also having a more sociable atmosphere. It has been a good balance between formal and informal as you were left to get on with your work as long as you got it done, meaning you could network during the day.

As the foundation scheme in IBM is rather large they have a very organised set up. The interns are split into different groups for their induction meaning you already start with a network of people. Also, as not everyone is starting at the same time you are able to ask others who started earlier than you for support, if not wanting to go to more senior members of the team.

The EPMs also set up development days which all interns could attend, this expanded our network and skills. These included a Career Academy Day where we could choose different speaking events to go to such as Presenting or help choosing your future career. We were also encouraged to complete 40 hours of development and education (Think40) across the year and offered multiple giveback opportunities, such as going to University Career Fairs to promote IBM.

IBM is a large company that offers many different roles in the grad scheme. You are also able to move around roles once in the scheme. This makes it more appealing as there is the chance to move if you don't enjoy the job you go into or want to develop skills in a new area.

As there were over 150 interns with IBM the social scene was what you made of it. There were many opportunities to meet other interns through social events, giveback and foundation days. We were able to network with a lot of people and having been in London were able to go out with the team.

Although being in London, I lived at home which meant the cost of living was not expensive at all. Although events in the area (going for drinks/dinner/activities) are often more expensive in London, the salary for those in the London offices is larger than those outside of London as to subsidise this. Also, being in London there were loads of things to do after work with the team, and with the London underground it was cheap to travel to.

The nightlife was really good as being in London there are clubs, bars, restaurants etc everywhere. The London South Bank office has multiple bars near by that offer discount to IBM employees (normally about 10%). Also because of the location you are able to walk or tube around London with no trouble, meaning you have access to a lot of different places.

We were given the opportunities to do Giveback activities such as University Career Fairs, where you could travel to the universities to promote IBM. There was also a 7billionideas event that gave us a chance to create new ideas/inventions. There are many different opportunities to attend these events and depending on your workload/manager you are able to attend all the ones you want.