L2 Workload Manager Review

I very much enjoyed this unbeatable experience at IBM. My job wasn't extremely difficult which made the overall experience less intimidating. I was involved within lots of teams in the foundation community which also gave me a variety of experience and helped me gain more skills that weren't directly related to my day job. This also gave me an insight into different parts of the company.

My team made me feel extremely welcome and took me as one of them very quickly. My questions were always answered, technical or general, and I was never left to figure things out on my own. My team were very approachable and was always grateful for the work that I did to help them. The other interns were also extremely kind and I got on with them very well.

I was given support and guidance through every step at IBM. Within my team I knew exactly who to go to for help with specific technical things. Everyone was always willing to help and they took the time to guide me through everything at the beginning. With my EPM I was also guided and helped if I needed to contact somebody that wasn't within my department. They also helped me get involved within other parts of the community.

My day job wasn't very strenuous and rather repetitive so at the beginning I was left a little bored. However, as time went on and I got more comfortable, I asked my manager for some more responsibilities and signed up for positions within the foundation community. This also gave me an insight into other departments within IBM.

Within my team I was given a good amount of responsibility. My daily task was to assign cases so the engineers in my team would be given work to do by me. I also ran the team calendar and notification schedule. These aren't difficult tasks but are a necessity to keep customer satisfaction high. I also had the chance to be Project Manager for a community within Foundation.

I was given an unbeatable experience through the Futures Scheme. This pre-university placement was unbeatable and I learnt skills that a lot of people my age don't have. The hard skills won't necessarily help me through university as I am not doing a course related to my job but the soft skills that I have learnt will definitely be put to use throughout university and my career after.

I was based in one of the quieter offices which meant that I was a little limited in regards to events taking place. However, I had a team that always held socials and small get togethers which lightened the mood often. We had a pot luck and a treasure hunt during Customer Service Week which meant that I met a lot of other people around the office.

It was quite well organised. We had regular quarterly meetings which were run by the futures and this meant that we were in touch with other people in the same position as us. I always knew who to contact if I needed help with something. The regular reviews was also great for keeping track of progress.

The company had a very general approach to individuals. We weren't specifically scouted for things if our team or EPM thought it would suit us they wouldn't necessarily contact us. However, when I asked for help or a new opportunity I wasn't left unanswered. You have to be proactive to get the opportunities but it would be helpful for it to be a little more tailored to each individual.r

They have a great apprenticeship scheme that I would be interested in however they don't do anything related to the field that I would like to go into (healthcare). It's well paid and having done a placement year meant that I could tailor the apprenticeship more to my liking if I wanted to.

My office was very small so I was very close to the other interns here. Unfortunately there weren't any other futures here but the interns on the placement year took me in and we often had outings. Some of would go for drinks after work, dinners, meet up on the weekends and we even went on a short weekend trip together.

You have to drive a little to get to anywhere to eat or socialise. Living was quite pricey but that is to be expected in London. There aren't many good places to socialise at walking distance which is unfortunate but there is a lot of choice if you drive out just a little.

There aren't many bars or pubs in the area, again they are a short drive away. Not any clubs in the area from what I know. We often had to drive out to Uxbridge to head for drinks after work. Not much of a nightlife in this area and the office wasn't made up of a lot of young people.

There were a couple of opportunities to help out at primary schools and high schools for events joined with IBM. There weren't a lot of fun activities to do such as sports or the arts outside of work but within the team we did compete for the Global Challenge which was a good way to make exercise more fun.