Business Operations Analyst Review

During the year, my task manager got me involved in a range of different roles and tasks giving me a greater understanding of how the business runs. I got a great deal of support and help and wasn’t thrown straight into the deep end and my team was more than happy to support me throughout my journey.

I really felt valued during my time at IBM and developed a close relationship with my team and manager. I was comfortable speaking to manager to address and concerns and never felt like an ‘intern’ when working with with senior members of the team, who were more than happy to get me involved in high level tasks (once I proved I can be reliable)

We had a task manager who assigned us our everyday tasks and often had weekly update calls for us to discuss and concerns or things we needed support on. We had quarterly Early Professionals Manager to discuss anything we didn’t feel comfortable to discuss with our manager and could reach out to them whenever when need be. This gave a huge support network to make the placement year successful.

We were give a certain level of responsibilities to get up to a regular basis whether that be monthly/weekly. This would take up considerable time but we also had some free hours to get involved in different areas of the business for example giveback (which we had the freedom to organise ourselves mostly and get approval) or network and use our different contacts to explore different areas of the business, which were interested in - this kept us busy too.

I had to make content for use my a senior level team and there meetings/calls relied on the content I pulled together so a significant amount of responsibility. Some of the content produced would go to our managers boss, who held a significant role in the global team and therefore needed to be to a very high standard.

A huge level of experience gained in the role would be required for future cooperate jobs. The interpersonal skills, operational skills, confidence, work-life balance and attitude developed are transferable in any future job that we could get. Therefore the year is a significant part of defining your success in future jobs.

There was a great sense of a family feel within the team - you would sit with your team and therefore it wouldn’t be a boring 9-5 job. You’d develop close relationships with people within your team giving you the opportunity to have conversations with, go for lunch with etc. Really develop friends through events like intern parties.

Those responsible for your placement year always set up meetings with early precessional manager well in advance and any queries regarding the placement like vacation would be quickly answered by those within the foundation team. Often all information we’d need was available through help communities so there’s was a struggle in the day to day.

The acitivities we engaged int throughout the year developed as we gained a better understanding of the industry. More important/senior level tasks that came in towards the middle of year shows Tasks managers willingness to develop our skills further than operational desks tasks. Badges (learning course) was available for us to do at our discretion.

Very.

Yes - there is a foundation community and various ways you can reach out to other placement students. We sit and have lunch with them and go for coffees with them if we want a break. There is a Christmas intern party which allows you to socialise with all other interns and often team meanings have socials after them so you can get to know those in the team better.

Working in central London meant that rent and the cost of living was significantly high. However, there was a higher level of pay for expensive areas to make expenses for manageable.

The nightlife in lodnon is buzzing but every expensive so you need to restrict yourself a bit

Yes - I didn’t do a lot though as I wa abuse travelling most my free time