Foundation Business Administrator Review

I have had a brilliant year! IBM is well set up to take on interns and it shows, the experience you get is amazing. There are so many opportunities to get involved in and you are encouraged to make the most of your year. I haven't given ten/ten purely as my role is not necessarily what I would want to do in the future but I thank my manager for all the support I was given. One of the things that makes an IBM internship so great is the early profession community. There are hundreds of people aged between 18-25 within Foundation which makes your time so much more enjoyable.

I could not have asked for a better intern team. I was one of five in my department, we all got on really well both personally and professionally. The managers in my department are extremely used to managing early professionals so I definitely felt like my opinion was being heard and valued. It would of been nicer to be felt more valued in the wider organisation as often people look at you at just an intern.

I was extremely lucky to have such a supportive manager. Who I could tell genuinely cared about me. I felt as if I could go to her regarding things both personal or professional. Even if my manager was unavailable I felt like there were so many managers I could of seeker support or guidance from within foundation. Foundation are very aware of careers and progression so were helpful in giving career advice. You are encouraged to seek the resources that are avaliable. If you ask for career guidance or coaching etc you will be immensely supported.

At the start of the year I felt like I needed to ask my manager what to do on a weekly basis. As time progressed I joined new projects and was able to manage my time and what I was doing. My manager would occasionally check in to see progress but otherwise gave me freedom. I definitely appreciated not being micro managed and felt trusted. There was times were I was super busy and other times it was a good constant stream of manageable work. Times when you were less busy allowed you to complete additional education. I was often asked by multiple managers whether I was overwhelmed by my work load to make sure it wasn't unmanageable. I was in a fortunate position that my manages were very understanding, others were in departments that did not have the same mindset so intense workloads were just the norm. In summary there was never a time I struggled to find work!

I would say overal I was given a good bit of responsibility, especially in my department. I took over a project management project from a manager in my department. As a intern you will be given some admin work and that is to be expected. However, overal I did definitely find my manager avoided giving me admin work and focused on putting me on long term projects.

I completed extra education that was probably more in relation to my future career which was super helpful. I would not necessarily say it would help in terms of my degree though. I completed over 50 hours of learning in subjects such as data science, python, cognitive technologies and leadership. IBM has a learning platform which provides thousands of resources and eduction training to any IBM employee. Therefore, you can tailor eduction to your needs and wants. You also are able to have coaching with foundation managers or mentoring from someone within the business in a career you are interested in. There are buddy systems also in place within the early professional community. There is some ability to do training with a cost associated (like in person courses) but this is more limited for interns. I would of loved to see some of the eduction provided to apprentices and graduates being avaliable to interns

I was based in southbank so it was always busy and vibrant. I would definitely recommend choosing southbank as your base location. I travelled for events to different base locations and southbank definitely had the most buzz to it. Being in London is create socially as well. There is always someone in the office to talk to from the early professional community. Southbank was a great place to network as well, there were lots high level managers about

AMAZING I think is is pretty unique to IBM, lots of other companies are not set up to take on lots of interns. Foundation is a department in ibm that specifically looks after early professionals. This is super unique to IBM to have a large department who purely does this. Foundation essentially provides you with a welfare manager. Therefore, you definitely don't feel like you could get lost in the business. Tons of support from foundation is given. Events for interns occur across the year.

Giving everyone a foundation manager meant they were hugely invested in our development Wished we had the same opportunities as apprentices and graduates though

Great future prospects. Especially since you get inside information from being on the intern scheme. Great career progression if you get into the graduate scheme but is very competitive. Most people apply back so I guess that goes to show how good the graduates schemes are.

In southbank yes there is lots to do socially. Early professions hostly host events or are at the pub after work. Since there are so many early professionals there is always someone happy to do something. Each month a part of there are free drinks which is great fun and a large party at Christmas. Each department typically holds its own events too. Other locations not so much in terms of social opportunities

I lived a home but travel into London did cost me around £13 each day. Drinks and food in London will be expensive also

Great nightlife in London but that is to be expected. There is something for everyone

You could get involved in communities and giveback Your placement was what you made it