Extreme Blue Intern Review

Being an Extreme Blue intern was very much an enjoyable experience, and changed my perceptions of IBM and software development in general.

I was surprised at how well the Extreme Blue program was regarded within IBM internally - developers were always willing to offer advice and assist with our projects. We were housed in University of Winchester accommodation together for the internship, which is retrospect was a great way of getting to know the other interns.

We had regular meetings with our Extreme Blue manager and daily contact with our mentors. As the projects went on, we also made presentations to IBM management, including the management of UK software development.

Due to the limited timespan and deadlines for internal and international presentations, we worked very hard to develop several demonstration apps involving Smart Meter and energy saving data. This was a very fast-paced development cycle, we had meetings almost every other day to refine, improve or reject ideas and focus our work direction. I felt like we got a lot of work done, and that our final collection of half a dozen or so applications was something to be proud of.

Between our team of 3 tech and 1 business interns, and our mentor, the direction of our projects was entirely at our discretion (within the boundaries of the general project idea). For the Smart Meter project at least, we were responsible for all of the development and pursuing business and future development leads.

As a technical intern, a computer science student, and the member of the team with the most programming experience, I probably got less out of the technical experience than the others. However, the experience of working in a large software company and managing the non-programming aspects of design and development was an invaluable experience, which is not something you get very often in programming internships. I think that working with the team and IBM has motivated me to go into IT consultancy as a career choice.

We had a huge shared open office with all the other interns - very much a fun and open atmosphere!

As the world largest IT consultancy, IBM organised the placement very well. We were given university housing, office space, company contacts, equipment and everything we needed to get going. There was even an end-of-placement trip to Rotterdam to present at the IBM Extreme Blue conference!

Apart from several sessions on media relations and safety, there weren't any official training sessions. However, our mentors and other colleagues in the company spent more than enough time teaching us how to use features and technologies, and were always willing to come in to the office to help us with specific problems.

I was personally very disappointed as an Australian international student about IBM UK's hiring policy with regards to not sponsoring work permits for foreign nationals. I would probably very much have considered a position with IBM after graduation.

Am still in contact with several of them!

Winchester is a very historic city, with surrounding tourist attractions such as Salisbury and Stonehenge. Housing prices are pretty high, but accommodation was provided for, and fairly close to the (relatively small) city centre. Cheaper than London and Cambridge prices.

None really. However, Southampton was within bus distance and we did venture there occasional.

On the weekends we often drove to nearby cities, including Salisbury and the Bournemouth air festival. We didn't really stay long enough to get involved in many IBM societies, but as we were living together it was very easy to socialise.