Marketing Analyst Review

I performed a variety of roles in the marketing department at IBM. This was focused on supporting all aspects of the business - from winning clients to recruitment. I helped to design the company's marketing campaign online, focused on our track record of case studies with previous clients. This was highly enjoyable as I got to speak to a lot of current employees and clients. I was involved with the recruitment campaign for early careers.

I learnt a lot of skills in digital marketing that I otherwise had no previous knowledge of throughout my studies or other work experiences. This included principles of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which is a highly important concept in the digital marketing world. I was given a lot of training on Powerpoint and Excel, and in stakeholder management. This was important because it helped me to learn how to win clients and pitch to them.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my short time at IBM. This is because I had no prior marketing experience and yet by the end of the internship I was responsible for managing several streams of work relating to our marketing department. I helped launch campaigns for our graduate recruitment cycles, which was very impactful given that I myself was going through the process of applying to their roles and was still as student.

I received a lot of support and guidance. Being a student I was unsure about what to expect but my colleagues made me feel very welcome to ask for and receive support at any time. At first this support was based largely on learning the key principles that the marketing team works with such as Search Engine Optimisation (CEO) but later it was focused on translating the impact of my work to clients, focusing on public speaking and presentation skills.

There was a great company atmosphere. IBM are a very well established software company, so it was no surprise that their digital marketing team was also very proficient and well regarded across the industry. I found that there were many intelligent individuals working across the company - not just in software development but also my own marketing department, HR, Finance and Legal. This made for a great atmosphere across the organisation. Everyone was very sociable too.

I really enjoyed my summer working at IBM. It gave me an insight into what life is really like at a software company. I learnt a lot of skills in marketing that I otherwise had not heard of on my international business course. Most important, I learnt that marketing is definitely the sector I want to be in as a graduate, because there is so much variety within the industry, especially at a company like IBM.

Yes

I would say you should keep an open mind as to the kind of companies you apply for. Many aspiring marketing professionals apply to marketing agencies such as Saard Verbinnen, but these are not necessarily the best routes in and are in any case very competitive. Working at a traditional corporate company such as IBM helps you to stand out because it shows that you were able to work across all aspects of a business.