This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 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
I have not overly enjoyed many aspects of the placement
This role seems slightly superfluous and therefore most of the time I feel unvalued by colleagues.
With this role we are fairly detached from our managers, at times it has been unclear as to who we should look to for guidance. We were given nearly no training for the support aspect of our role.
Varying, the only time it is a high workload would be when one of us (two people work in this role) is on holiday and you have to cover both workloads.
Initially the responsibility felt quite large but the software we support is not that popular and when coupled with the fact that we were given very little training for it really meant there's not that much we can do without help from other team members/
The software is largely irrelevant to anything I'd like to do. No real technical skills gained. Problem solving isn't put greatly to the test.
The Company
The office is very relaxed, not overly busy, and there's a lot of interns based here. This was a good aspect of the placement.
IBM have quite a lot of interns and the whole 'Foundation' organisation that is responsible for them seems ok.
The company offers a lot of training and education that you can take part in if you want.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Company Car
Subsidised/Company Gym
National Travel
International Travel
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Staff Sales/Staff Shop
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
Healthcare from home
Healthcare/Dental
Travel loan
IBM is so large that there's a lot of different roles. But there seems to be a very common issue of people not really knowing exactly what their job is and getting lost in the system. Ok pay and relaxed atmosphere in most areas are appealing.
The Culture
I think in the Southbank office there is a good atmosphere. Lots of interns is always good though.
London is expensive Bedfont is quite far out if you're travelling across zones.
Wouldn't go out in Feltham.
IBM offer 'Giveback' but in this role you have to organise with the ither team member to be at work 8 - 5:30 if you are away.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
London
January 2015