Foundation Financial Analyst Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my year at IBM, it is such a great organisation to have gained such valuable experience from. My role has been really interesting and I have always felt supported. There are great opportunities outside your role to get involved in as well and you are encouraged to do so.

Throughout the year, my manager has continued to show her appreciation for the work I do for the department. This provides a sense of achievement for yourself but when something is a challenge it is so rewarding to complete and then get recognition for it. It is easy to get stuck in to you role and forget the positive impact you are making.

My team were always on hand to help when I needed it. Even if it wasn't something they were familiar with they would always attempt to help. As well as this, if there is something you are unsure with, there will always be someone to point you in the direction and they will be very willing to help.

My role was typically quite busy, there was always a task to be done. My finance role ran on a monthly basis, my busiest times were from around the 25th-5th of each month. During the middle of the month I was able to focus on other areas of my role or get involved with giveback and activities outside of my role.

Within my finance role I would say I had a quite big responsibilities. However, the responsibilities grew as my placement went on. For example, at the start of my year I still had responsibilities but as you become more confident in your role, you gain more. Throughout gaining more responsibilities there are always managers to support you with this.

I will definitely use skills that I have learnt this year during my final year of university as well as after uni. Time management is a key skill, as well as the ability to prioritise tasks. Having the ability to be able to prioritise will be valuable for the workload of final year.

I was fortunate enough to be in a team with 3 other interns, so the office was really fun. All In the wider office it was a lovely site to explore, with lots of outside green spaces. There was such a positive feel to the office and everyone was friendly.

I felt the placement scheme at IBM was very well organised. I was given a 'buddy' before I started which was the intern I was taking over from, it was valuable as it allowed me ask any questions that I had before I started. The inductions are well organised and informative.

IBM provide a platform called 'Your Learning', this is an online database where there are online training opportunities on a diverse range of topics. You are encouraged to do at least 40 hours of this a year, managers usually allow you to set time aside to complete this. I was also encouraged to shadow other areas of the business to allow me to explore further into other areas that might interest me.

As I mentioned you are always encouraged to shadow so you can see other areas of the organisation, that both interest you and to help you with your career path. As well as this, there is day dedicated to discussing further options called 'Careers Academy'. There are lot's of different areas you can look into as well.

In the office I was working in, there were a fair amount of interns. My team and I would just usually sit together to have lunch, but there was a massive table where a lot of the other interns would sit together and socialise. There were celebrations that took place between the interns if you wanted to get involved.

I would say that the cost of living in the area of my office was similar price to other student housing. For socialising it was quite expensive, but once you know the best places to go then it is fine. There were lots of surrounding areas to visit for eating out and nightlife as well.

The nightlife in the area I worked in wasn't that great for clubs, however there were many nice pubs and restaurants. IBM put on many events such as Fireworks for Bonfire nights. For the main clubs you had to go to the surrounding areas where there is a greater population for students.

There are so many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of your day to day role and personally I was always encouraged to do so. There are giveback opportunities such as going to represent IBM at university careers events. There are giveback group chats to be a part of, so you can see all of the options available.