Junior Software Developer Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my work placement at IBM and have found it to be a great learning experience. During my internship I have learned skills and gained valuable experiences that you can't learn at university. My placement has given me the opportunity to work with some fantastic people. I'm sure that I will stay in contact with some of the people I have worked with regardless of whether I am accepted for a graduate role.

On the whole I believe that I am valued by the other members of the office, especially by the members of my team. Almost everyone has treated my like a regular IBM employee rather than as an intern, which has made me feel like the work I have done is valued rather than being smaller tasks that they felt they could give to a student.

I have regular one-to-ones with my task manager, where she asks me about how I'm finding the work and how I'm doing in general. She has offered me suggestions and explainations for how things such as how the graduate scheme works when I've had questions during the application process as well as information about general processes that are followed in the workplace.

There has never been any shortage of work to do since my team works with major components in the code of the product, so it is impossible to say "I have nothing to do". There is good variation in the work that I do, and I've never been stuck performing the same task every day. There are plenty of opportunities to go above and beyond to improve processes in the workplace or to learn something new.

Not long after beginning my placement I was given the joint responsibility of managing an important timekeeping tool. This meant that I was one of two primary contacts for the tool and I have regularly been asked to help correct errors, such as when someone has approved something they didn't intend to.

My placement has taught me the skills I need to better plan projects and tools. I've had opportunities to work with other people in teams, separate to my main role, to develop utilities that can improve processes and reduce the time spent on repeated tasks. I've also been introduced to new technologies that I wouldn't have otherwise investigated. Working collaboratively has helped me improve my communication skills as well as ensuring that my work is done before deadlines. Due to working with people in different timezones who are under considerable workloads I have had to use techniques such as clean coding techniques to allow myself to continue development while the interfaces I will have to work with are undefined.

The atmosphere in the office has always been lighthearted. There are constantly in-office jokes being made by the self-proclaimed memelord. The pool competition is fierce since the in-office pool table was resurfaced and people have been practicing at lunch times.

With my placement I was intended to swap with another student on placement half way through the year so we could both get a mixed experience. We were allowed to choose whether we would swap or stay in our initial roles. We were assigned buddies we could go to if we had questions until we knew more people.

IBM places a strong emphasis on self learning, providing tools where you can follow courses in addition to the publicly available learning resources that they offer. We have had multiple training sessions that covered things such as presentation techniques, as well as peer presentations on topics such as how blockchain works and how it can be applied to different industries.

I am currently applying to the graduate scheme within IBM and would be very happy to be offered a job after I finished university. I get on well with the members of my team, as well as the the other people in the office.

There weren't very many placement students in manchester, however I get on very well with the students that are here. We often go for meals or drinks, and whenever we are all in the office we make sure to play a little bit of pool.

The price of my flat in the city centre is very reasonable considering it's location, and I have been living with another student so we share the rent. I live 5 minutes walk away from work so it is very convenient in a morning to be in quite early.

I have only been 'out on the town' once as part of someones leaving party, however there are parts of manchester that are renowned for the night life. These parts are a relatively short walk away from the centre of manchester.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved. I played football with people after work, despite being terrible at it but people were happy to have me playing. I also joined in the fitbit competitions at work and started doing some running after being encouraged by my colleagues. I've been climbing with some people, as well as meeting up to play board games, so there is a very good mix of activities to get involved in.