HR Business Development Review

The opportunities available while on placement are by far the most enjoyable aspect of the placement. Whilst I have been here, I have been involved with a number of things outside of my day role where time has allowed which has really helped me develop a wide range of skills. For example, I have led my own team, been a video panel host, produced and edited a number of videos, learnt how to coach, completed 13 different externally recognised badges on IBM's Your Learning Platform in topics from Agile, to Blockchain, to cloud, to consulting. The opportunities are endless!

I felt extremely valued by colleagues - from day one, I was treated like an employee and not and intern and as an individual, not just "one of the interns". The team understands that you come in and you need to time to learn, but at the same time, I don't feel I was ever "babied" or undervalued.

There is a great deal of support from a variety of different places: - Your EPM (Early professionals manager) - you have a special Intern manager who manages you and other interns at your location who you can come to with any problems and they do your 3,6,9 and 12 month reviews. - Your task mangers - This is the person who gives you your day to day tasks. You work with them so closely so they can help you at any point! - Other people in your department - I have found that everyone is willing to make time for you if you just reach out - Other interns - you are in the same boat - PACIFY - An intern mental health community with loads of great content and advice.

It really varied for me. I worked on global deals which is a really fast-paced and and varied culture. You could be working on 5 deals at once, or only 1 or none - it literally depends on what kind of deals/ the number of deals that IBM chooses to do at any one time. You definitely need to be able to adapt to both - sometimes I was flat out working till 8pm, and sometimes I had very little work and had to find other work to do or do some learning/join other projects to make the most of my time.

A decent amount. I was often working with external clients or executives at IBM so would do work that goes directly to them, which is obviously of high importance. In saying that, I would also help my manager put slides together for a simple presentation - seemingly much less responsibility. You need to understand and be willing to do all the tasks that you are set - often you may not see the value in smaller tasks at first, but it is part of a bigger process.

A LOT! I have developed so many different skills, for example: Leadership, problem solving, creativity, innovation, confidence in speaking, technical skills, client focus just to name a few. Most importantly though, you develop a really good working mindset while on placement which I know I can transfer to my studies to help me succeed in final year. Even something as simple as gaining the confidence to put your hand up in lectures because you just spent the last year working alongside Executives...putting you hand up doesn't seem so daunting after that...

Great! Not super chatty buut everyone was friendly and willing to talk to you and help you if you needed. We often had birthdays etc where people would bring in cakes etc. Also, for global calls we would all sit together in the office and watch on a big screen. You would get "groups" within the office - but not in a negative way and I could happily walk over to someone else on the other side of the office.

It was pretty well organised - you have reviews at 3,6,9, and 12 months to track your progress which is really good and actually motivates you to keep up with everything. A lot is very self-motivated though - if you aren't busy, it is your responsibility to go and ask for work or find yourself things to do. People will be happy to help you if you ask them, but they wont come and find you first. I think that is fair enough though! I would say though, the organisation very much depends on your role and your team - I found that some interns had different experiences to others. This would be a good question to ask your manager in an interview.

They have a Your Learning platform which has tons of free badges in so many different areas that you can complete. They are also recognized externally and they don't disappear after you leave. Also, my team went to Europe for a conference and they didn't even think twice about taking me - I was simply part of the team so I was going. IBM paid for my trip entirely. PLEASE NOTE - this is very rare - don't expect to be able to travel, but I think it explains the point - they are willing to invest in you.

I really want to come back as a graduate. The culture here is brilliant and I think you would find it very difficult to find somewhere comparable. While on placement, you have the opportunity to apply for a graduate scheme and you bypass the assessment centre stage and go straight to interviews - provided you did a good job on your placement and in your 12-month review.

We have 21 interns where I was based - although this GREATLY varies from location to location. We got on really well and attended social events together after work and on weekends. That made the placement really special. Remember you are all around the same age and have just come from Uni so are likely to have similar interests - make an effort to make friends!

Pretty average. Rent was pretty average and so was everything else. I was in Portsmouth, so definitely cheaper than London where other interns are based.

There are 3 clubs in Portsmouth and plenty of bars. There are a few cinemas, tons of restaurants and a MUST is Gunwharf - designer clothes outlets which also has all of the places mentioned above. There is also a Uni there so plenty of students around.

Its pretty much what you make of it - as with anywhere else. The interns organised stuff ourselves. We lived by the beach so did a lot of stuff. Again, as it is a Uni you can join the societies there if you want to. Also plenty of gyms around.