Commercial Analyst Review

Working for IBM at Nationwide Building Society has presented me with various opportunities to gain an insight into large scale B2B operations. I have undertaken a number of varying roles, all of which have posed challenges, however provided a huge learning experience in which I have grown and developed both my soft and hard skills. Although my placement has taught me the above, it has also shown me the areas of which I do not want to move into, as I have had roles which do not interest me in the long term.

I have been relied on significantly by not only my team, but many individuals around the account including senior stakeholders from both IBM and Nationwide. This has allowed me to understand the benefit from the work I have been doing first hand, and gain some great exposure and appreciation around the account.

Every time I have encountered challenges this year, I have been given tremendous support within my team. Management have taken the time to work through difficulties step by step to ensure that, not only will I be more prepared to handle my workload, but also able to overcome future conflicts when faced with them.

My current role which has taken up the majority of my year, has meant that I have been incredibly busy for a large duration. This has presented benefits and drawbacks accordingly. As I have been given regular opportunities to expose myself, I have deliberately worked harder and longer hours to achieve the most from this. Of course this has meant working outside of my agreed hours, and putting significant effort into completing tasks to the highest possible standard. This has grown, and for a period I found myself encumbered with work, and unintentionally working very long hours.

I have been given the opportunity to own the process which I manage. This process is fundamental to ensure commercial integrity and financial security on the account, and I am responsible for its facilitation in order to prevent an increase in risk. Of recent in particularly, there has been uncertainty within this area, and therefore it has been imperative for me to maintain the fluidity of such processes. I have found this responsibility to be very rewarding, as I have felt a vital member of the IBM team here at Nationwide.

My perception of real life business has increased dramatically. I have learnt critical commercial and financial processes that underly every business, and working on a client site has allowed me to test my networking capabilities to build relationships with individuals from organisations outside of my place of work. Furthermore, I have been able to develop my soft skills as I have presented in front of senior stakeholders, and significantly broadened my use of excel.

The office which I have worked in is rather old fashioned. However as it has not been an IBM site, and is the office for a Building Society, I did not expect there to be a lot of fun and excitement. The atmosphere was however pleasant, and provided great conditions for working with the exception of becoming hot regularly.

IBM are fantastic at dealing with their interns, from application to assessment centre to induction everything was very well mapped out and explained clearly. As soon as I started my internship, I was given the relevant support by my peers and managers. This allowed me to quickly settle in and begin working effectively as soon as possible.

IBM are very clear that they encourage interns to apply for the graduate scheme, and will provide the support when doing so. I have been supported through this process in particular. As well as this, I have been supported in growing as a professional by entering new and challenging roles whilst receiving feedback regularly. There are also training courses on offer to interns which are a great opportunity to get the most out of your year.

I have applied for the graduate scheme, and there appears to be a significant advantage to applying as an intern than applying straight out of University. I am hoping to receive a job offer before I finish my internship in August, although this may not be guaranteed. If I am unsuccessful in applying I have the opportunity to apply again in 12 months, which gives me another chance before graduating.

Myself and the other interns didn't really do a lot together as we had a different range of interests. Furthermore, I tend to drive home on Thursdays to see family as we work from home on Fridays. Some of the other interns did occasionally hang out however, and we would attend work events together.

Rent was my biggest expenditure over the course of my internship. This made it hard to appreciate the monetary value of my internship as I struggled quite a lot over the year. I had however begun my placement for experience, and therefore this didn't have a detrimental effect on my placement overall.

The nightlife in Swindon where I was based was far from great. I only attended a small number of nights out which ended in small clubs or pubs, and these weren't of the greatest quality.

The only regular activities that took place outside of work was Tuesday football. Personally I do not play football, and therefore I wasn't particularly interested in this.