Marketing Assistant, IBM Software Group Review
by IBM
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
2.1
-
The Company
2.4
-
The Culture
3.1
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
My role was a new role and I had little contact with my manager so I found it hard to adapt but had a few good experiences towards the end of my year.
I feel I could have been better valued by my team if I was more visible to them - a lot of them did not know I was there to help until I made myself noticed.
I saw my task manager about 5 times during my placement and rarely had any guidance from him - I had to find other managers for support. You are given a Professional Development Manager but they are usually to busy with graduates to be of any real value and are only interested in doing your reviews.
As my role was new I was naive in thinking that I would be busy - it took a lot of effort to find work on a daily basis and I feel I could have contributed a lot more given the opportunity and time from my managers.
I was not given any real responsibility until about 9 months into my placement. I feel I could have taken on a lot more if the role had a structure. At some points I was questioning why I even had a role.
I only had limited training.
The Company
I sat with other interns and when we were all in the office there was a good environment. On Fridays it's very dull as everyone works from home.
I feel the overall placement scheme is well set up and you can have a great year but I feel I could have had a much better role.
They offer some training on basic things like MS Excel and some online courses but nothing that worthwhile.
Subsidised/Company Gym
Working from home
I am undecided on a future career with them as they only have limited roles which do not appeal to what I want to do - but I know a lot of graduates who are doing well in Sales & Consulting
The Culture
A lot of interns lived at home during my year and so there was not much socializing and London is expensive on a tight budget! But we had a great group of friends so we had a few good nights out and being on South Bank is cool.
London prices!!
Couldn't be better but would need more money / time to make the most of it
They offer a scheme called 'Giveback' where you can volunteer in the local community which I enjoyed!
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Business Operations, Information Technology, Logistics and Operations, Marketing, Voluntary
London
June 2012
