Acquisition Go-To-Market Co-ordinator Review

I really enjoyed my year at IBM and it exceeded all expectations. IBM invest a lot of time and effort into their interns and you are always working on real projects with real outcomes. There is a clear focus on learning and development and as a result, all managers are encouraging of getting involved in activities to support personal development and giveback projects.

I did feel valued by my colleagues and my manager always made it clear that my work benefitted our team and the broader organisation. Team members are always willing to provide feedback and I have always been given the recognition for pieces of work and how I have contributed. Also, my team are always interested in finding out new perspectives, particularly from a younger generation so my opinion was always valued.

IBM as an organisation do provide a lot of support, in lots of different areas; flexible working, shadowing other departments, taking on new projects, getting involved in Giveback and in most cases, if you have an idea and want to run with it and there is a business benefit, it is very likely that IBM will support you in doing so.

My schedule varies so much on a weekly basis- I can have busy days and I can have days where I can focus more on completing some online learning or Giveback projects. Although I do have busy days, it is rare that I would need to work past five o'clock. If I do find myself in a position where I don't have a huge amount to do, I usually just reach out to my team to see if there's anything I can help with.

The amount of real responsibility that we are given as interns really has exceeded all expectations! I have been involved in projects where I have had a significant role to play and the end result has been distributed to hundreds of people and I have responsibility and complete ownership over several projects.

IBM have a huge online learning platform so I would definitely advise taking full advantage of that whilst on placement and I have earnt badges related to Agile and Design Thinking and Cloud technologies; skills which I hope to transition back into my final year of study. There are always workshops, demo days and networking events which you always have the option of attending which will expand your knowledge.

I was based in the Southbank office and there was a large community of interns (about 80!) based there too so there was always a good atmosphere and I was lucky in that I was sat in an open space with quite a few other interns. It can be quite quiet though sometimes as a lot of managers tend to work from home a few days a week.

The IBM placement scheme is award winning and from your first day you can know why! Before you start properly, you have two days of induction where you can meet all the other interns, you are assigned a Foundations manager (alongside your Task Manager) who you have quarterly reviews with and there are clear paths of progression if you would like to continue your time at IBM after your placement.

I would definitely recommend trying to find a mentor within the company- most managers will be open to taking on mentees and so benefits both parties! There is also large online learning platform so you can take courses and earn badges- ranging from soft skills to gaining practical knowledge about the industry.

I am applying for the IBM grad scheme and would love to have the opportunity to develop within the company- the flexibility to work in so many areas, work in different countries and for different clients is really appealing. I think because it is a company which is leading in the tech industry, there are so many exciting things going on within it!

The location of the office was amazing (right on the South Bank) and because no one was driving to work (all using public transport) everyone is always up for grabbing a drink after work. Also, as most interns have relocated to London for the year, we all live relatively close and meet up most weekends.

The cost of living is expensive and my rent is about double what I pay at university but I had always gone into this year with the expectation that I wasn't going to save any money (which I haven't been able to) as I would rather enjoy this year and do all the things that I wanted to do.

On the Southbank there are loads of bars (the office literally overlooks the Understudy where we go most weeks) and Waterloo is about a five minute walk so you can very easily get to most places in London. Also, in most places along the Southbank you get a discount for showing your IBM badge :)

There are opportunities to get involved with activities outside of your day to day job and I know that there are some sport teams you can join. This is one thing which IBM could improve on, as there isn't much opportunity to get involved with outside activities with different people within the business.