Financial Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year with IBM. I am glad I was offered a role within the finance dept as I also want to have a career in finance after university. I enjoyed it so much that I even accepted a 2 month contract extension extending my placement to 14 months.

I felt like I was a vital part of the finance team as I was given many highly valued tasks during my placement and my colleagues respected and praised the work I done with these tasks. I was also on extremely good terms with my colleagues and they always reassured me that they were willing to help if I needed help.

My manager help fortnightly meetings with me to ensure I knew what I was doing and that I was coping in my role and just to see how I was doing in general. My manager would also have a chat with me on almost a daily basis just to make sure I had no concerns. My supervisor and I worked together on a daily basis and where I was struggling he would step in and guide me.

Compared to other students on placement I seemed to have a considerably larger and more time consuming task list. I sometimes had to work through lunch or a lot later in the evening to ensure tasks were completed. So I didn't have as much personal time to do university tasks or charitable work as other studenets. But I did like have a lot to do as it kept me busy and I didn't want to sit around doing nothing.

I was given a lot of responsibility in my role, at first I was surprised to see how much responsibility I was given. But after a month in my role I appreciated the responsibility given to me as it made a very valuable member in my function.

I have improved a number of skills, especially my microsoft office, time management, organisation, prioritisation, communication and problem solving skills. I was also able to complete online self study courses on different areas to improve my skills, which I took advantage of during my placement.

It was a friendly and relaxed atmosphere as you could chat to each other quite freely, the managers also got involved with conversations at the desks which was good.

My placement was very well organised as I had my task list with everything I needed to do each day/week/month/quarter so I always knew what I had to do. I also had a good handover from the previous student which lasted a month so I gained a lot of knowledge on my tasks.

I was always encouraged to go on courses and complete online self study to develop my skills and and to turn my weaknesses into strengths. My manager would also follow up on areas in which I have took courses to make sure I am improving and to help me where he could.

I would definitely work for IBM again, I had a great time during my placement and I have no regrets. However, I won't be applying back as a Graduate as there are no graduate roles available in Greenock, Scotland and I am not looking at moving to England at this moment in time. If there were Graduate roles in Scotland I would definitely apply to return.

The social scene amongst the students was extremely poor as in Scotland there are only a few students, and unfortunately there was a a little tension between the students at times. However, the social scene within the finance function was amazing, whether it was function lunches, trips to the pub or nights out everyone had a good time and let their hair down.

Cost of living wasn't too bad for me as I lived 45 mins away from my office, petrol costs were a little high though. When we would go out I would say lunches and drinks were high but not too high

There wasn't much of a night life as we all went home at about 11pm due to train times and office location, but the time we did spend out of the office environment was always enjoyable.

Yes IBM is very fond of charitable work (Giveback) and you were encouraged to take part in all activities, there was always a lot of opportunities available. There are also other opportunities to get involved in like fun days and sports activities.