Extreme Blue Intern Review

The Extreme Blue internship program was extremely enjoyable as it presented me with a unique opportunity to work with interesting clients, learn about modern design and development methodologies, and take ownership within a real-world technology problem. The people at IBM, my fellow interns, and the opportunity to interact with international teams were aspects that contributed to the holistic nature of the internship.

In the program, interns work in teams of four and have close to full autonomy over the project they are working on. Team members quickly form tight-knit relationships with one another as this is necessary to be able to work effectively and manage various responsibilities of the project. Mentors value the opinions of interns and relationships feel more like those between peers rather than managers.

Support is offered by mentors to the extent that teams desire. Interns are encouraged to challenge themselves and mentors provide useful inputs to help educate teams in various capacities (e.g. design thinking, project management, value-driven task management. There are both informal and formal guidance structures in place to support interns.

Interns have a fair amount of flexibility in terms of working hours, however, because teams are tasked with a real client project there is an intrinsic drive to ensure work completed is of high quality. This inherently means that interns are busy more often than they are not. But this is positive as you aren't looking for an internship where you will be sitting idle.

Extreme Blue interns have an unprecedented level of responsibility. You collate inputs from clients, you frame the problem, you interact with clients in agile work cycles, you decide how to build the product, you devise the project plan, you test your product, you present to clients. There is no internship in which intern's are given more responsibility.

The technical interns in the program came from a variety of technical backgrounds, including, natural sciences, engineering and computer science. Design interns came from even more varied backgrounds such as graphic design, industrial systems design, and product design. The skills developed during the internship are not specific to any particular discipline but are generally extremely useful in professional settings. Skills include teamwork, management, software development, design, client relationship management, presentation and lots more.

The atmosphere within the office is wholesome. All interns work together in an open plan room and mentors are quick to introduce interns to their offices so that they can be located when required. There is a free gym on site, the Hursley campus is stunning, there are two dining options and several cafes, and there are even recreational facilities like gaming consoles, table tennis tables, and sports teams.

The internship was pretty well organised in all aspects. Clients were selected in advance of interns arrivals and relationships were managed well. Regular client interaction sessions, a European expo, weekly presentations, and occasional workshops provided a good structure to the internship. The only points of improvement I would raise is that there could have been a more structured feedback system, and there could have been significantly greater clarity on how interns could secure full-time positions.

The firm invested a considerable amount of effort in intern development as there were employees were given the opportunity to spend a significant proportion of their days to train, advise and coach interns. Formal courses did not need to be sponsored in my case however there was no indication that this wouldn't be possible if necessary.

Future employment prospects within the company are good, however, the full-time roles available in Hursley are different to the type of job performed as an intern. Hursley is home to UK labs and most roles involve working on IBM product teams where client interaction is different to the type encountered as an extreme blue intern. The prospect of getting a job is very high, however.

Accommodation is provided for interns so there is an incredible level of social cohesion as interns live with one another.

Cost of living is moderate. Winchester is a quaint town with enough to keep one busy!

Decent! Southampton is only a short train ride away.

Yes, sports teams, regular social meetups.