This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement with IBM. The level of exposure to real life problems is incredible and you are really 'thrown into the deep end'. Everyone who I have worked with has been extremely supportive in helping me develop throughout.
I was given provided with a high level of responsibility in my role and my colleagues trusted me with real life issues. After my manager left I have supported her successor with more managerial responsibilities.
Both of my task managers have supported me throughout my placement and pushed me to complete new, more advance tasks. They have also asked for help with management tasks which has offered opportunity to widen my skill set. My early professional manager has also been supportive. We have had reviews throughout, whereby we discuss what I could do to help me get more out of my year with IBM.
A role in finance has been extremely challenging and full on at times. Sometimes my workload has been hard to manage and pending tasks have piled up. That being said, I would rather have too much than too little and this has provided me with a taste of the real world of finance.
I have been provided with an extremely high level of responsibility and am often left alone to work on tough tasks and with senior colleagues. This was slightly daunting at first but my team have always been open to provide support when required.
A finance role is not overly interlocked with an Economics degree, although learning how large businesses operate will definitely help me in my studies. I have developed a range of core skills, all of which I will take forward to my final year, graduate role and beyond.
The Company
My team gets on well and are constantly communicating. The overall atmosphere is positive and a good one to work in.
The structure of the placement has been impressive. The only down side would be to have more interlocks with your EPM to focus on your goals. There is plenty of opportunity to undertake different education sessions and giveback opportunities.
I completed an ABC course, accounting basics with commercial awareness. On top of this I was able to visit multiple offices and work with different teams.
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
After networking with graduates and attending the careers academy, I will definitely be applying back to IBM. Working in GBS finance you are exposed to the diverse range of consulting opportunities within the organisation.
The Culture
There are around 20-30 placement students in North Harbour, Portsmouth so the social scene is fairly good.
Cost of living in Portsmouth is cheap in comparison to London.
Nightlife in Portsmouth is average. There is a limited amount of clubs, better for bars/pubs.
Played football with colleagues a few times.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South East
May 2018