IBM Support Analyst Review

The team was great and the support to help adapt to the steep learning curve was a welcome relief. Responsibility was given to me straight away with high value customers and I was left to work without constantly being checked on. I would definitely recommend.

Towards the end of the placement I could contribute to other colleagues problems and help them solve their issues based on my own experiences. This was welcomed and encouraged through the team.

We had two managers, one for the day-to-day job and one for the placement guidance. Both were more than happy to help answer any questions or point you to someone who could help answer the questions. In my experienced, one helped with the technical part of the role, providing great resources and technical experience and always helped you to not just use the answer but understand it too. The other manger helped guide your placement journey by pushing you to talk to grads and other managers about their experiences.

Workflow would be dependant of a day-by-day basis, sometimes you'd be up-to your knees in testcases and another day you might be waiting for responses from your clients. But as I said previously, when it does get busy the support is there to help you cope.

In one word: Lots. Dealing with large clients' high priority issues was a shock to the system at first but getting to know the clients and the business impact this had for them helped you to prioritise their issue and come to a quick solution they're happy with.

My degree touched on coding and the use of computers to help with analysis, both of which were built on in my year at IBM. I'd also say that client communication and organisation skills were key in the role and as you can expect, will also be key in many other areas of work.

The other placement students definitely made the otherwise quite empty office feel full. The manager would also take us to different office locations so we could get out and meet people and experience the other office vibes.

Very well, however the only issue that I have personally is that I have only seen my "manager" three times by the end of the year and they are responsible for my scoring of placement. The manager who I work for and see on a day-to-day basis has little say in this.

I've found that you need to go out and find the resources to help train you in other areas of the business and build skills that aren't used frequently in your job. There are a lot of these resources but some are hidden and you need to know what you want. One of the great learning resources available is the badge programme which rewards you with badges for learning information and completing assessments. The badges are also recognised by other companies.

For grad jobs they are always hiring however the roles may change depending on the needs of the company.

It was great, our team had Pub lunches and after work drinks with the other interns and staff. A morale budget was also put aside to do some activities like go-karting.

I worked just outside of London and the prices were still just as expensive. The house shared between three of us was £2000, however I know some people who found places for £1700+. Socialising was relatively expensive compared to previous places I've been but resorting to the local spoons was a happy compromise.

Nightlife was good in that London is very connected and you can easily make it from one place to another in not too long.

Yes definitely you just have to find out what you like and you're sure to find something. For me I wanted to find a local climbing centre and it turns out I was living near the biggest one in the UK!