UKI Early Professional Attraction Team Review

I really enjoyed my Placement at IBM! It was fun to work in a large team which included other Interns, Gap Year Students and Apprentices, and I had the chance to work closely with other managers too which was valuable. I also lived with other interns which made the experience really enjoyable.

Even from my first day I felt valued by my manager and the other intern in my team. It was clear that members of the wider Recruitment team who I worked closely with valued me too, as they trusted me with tasks and were always friendly and helpful. We sometimes had managers ask us for the most effective way of advertising roles, showing that they valued our opinions and would look to us for advice.

I was given lots of support from my manager and colleages when I needed it. We had a general 2 day induction at the start of the 12 months and then I had 2 weeks handover with the previous intern in my role, who trained me up. I then too over the role myself and had daily catch up calls with my manager (who was based in a different office) to check I knew what I was doing, and gave me the chance to ask questions and ask for help if required.

For the first 6 months of my placement I was extrememely busy and really hit the ground running. It was stressful at times but I really enjoyed getting stuck in and seeing how my team operated. For the final 6 months I wasn't as busy, but still had plenty to do, as well as being able to take the opportunity to do extra online training and spend time completing university work as well as networking with Graduates to learn more about the Grad Scheme that I wanted to apply to.

I was given a large level of responsibility on my placement. I managed approximately 40-50 teams of IBMers who were in charge of organising and attending events at schools and universities around the UK. I also was responsible for working with 3rd party suppliers to plan other events, and was in charge of the invoicing and payments to 3rd party suppliers that we worked with.

I think I have improved my time management skills hugely, and my confidence has grown too. These will help me put myself out there more in the future, and should mean that I am able to plan my time more effectively when studyung in final year. I also have developed my communication and presentation skills which will be important at Uni and in future jobs.

My office consisted of myself and 4 other interns. We had a few managers sat next door to us, and then my manager was based in a different office, so I travelled to see her once each week/fortnight. Myself and the other interns worked really hard and always got our tasks done, but we had a great time and are all close friends now. We have been through a lot of stressful times together but got each other through it all!

IBM seem very well organised, from the start of the recruitment process all the way through to onboarding and induction. At all times I knew which stage I was at, and knew who I could contact if I had questions. Once you start, there is a proper structure to the placement as well as your actual role. We had 3, 6, 9 and 12 month reviews, as well as being able to talk to our Early Professional Managers at other times if we wanted.

I think IBM are quite good at investing time in interns, as they know that a lot will return in future. I have developed a lot and have my manager to thank for that as she has given me support but room to grow and learn. We always are able to carry out online training on anything that interests us which enables you to take away more from the experience.

I hope to return to IBM as a Grad after I have completed my Degree. I would love to work for IBM again because the people are really what make the company so enjoyable to work for. Everyone is really friendly and always happy to help or chat if you have any questions or just generally want to learn about what they do. The Graduate scheme consists of 2 years training on the job before you become a fully fledged consultant.

I worked and lived with other interns, so we had a good social scene. People often go home or back to uni at the weekends, but there was always someone around for something whether it be the pub, shopping or a movie night. I know that gap year students and apprentices are also very social as are the Grads!

I lived in Winchester (I was based at IBM Hursley) and my rent in a shared house with 5 other interns was £460pcm plus bills. Once I had paid for rent, bills, petrol and food I still had a bit of my salary left over so have been able to save a small amount each month. I think it's more about the experience than being able to save loads, as I wanted to make the most of doing activities with other interns and enjoy my placement year!

Winchester has lots of pubs and restaurants, and then Southampton is very close and has more nightclubs if that's what you're looking for. We tended to stay local as it was cheaper, but did have a few big nights out! We often had house parties instead as a lot of us lived within walking distance of each other.

There was a sports club at IBM Hursely, and there are loads of options within Winchester/the surrounding area too. I didn't join anything really as was happy to relax and hang out with my housemates or other interns in the evenings and at the weekends. There is a leisure centre in the town centre which you could join!