UK Marketing Review

I really enjoyed my placement at IBM over the past year, it was a great experience of working in a major global corporation and experiencing the real-world working environment first-hand. I was given the opportunity to undertake tasks way beyond what I thought I would be given the responsibility to do, which was a great challenge.

I felt really valued by all the colleagues that I worked with, across all areas of the business as well as in my team. Everyone made me feel like a real part of the company rather than just an intern, which enhanced the experience greatly.

My manager worked with quite a hands-off approach, however, this was beneficial to me throughout the year as it gave me the responsibility to organise my own work and meant I had to be pro-active in helping all team members. Support was always available should I have needed it, however.

On a day-to-day basis I was moderately busy - there were peaks and troughs throughout the year, but this is just the nature of the role. Summer months were always quiet owing to people being off on holidays, and similarly for Xmas, but overall I always had something to keep me busy doing, and there were plenty of people in the team to ask for work from.

I was given a lot of responsibility within my role in the team, beyond what I thought I would when I started. I also took every opportunity to get involved with projects outside of my role within the wider business, such as volunteering projects and mentoring, so as to get more experiences that way.

The skills I have developed will help me greatly in my degree, particularly those less role-specific, like teamworking and working to strict deadlines etc. Beyond that, the more specific training I took part in will stand me in a great stead for my future career, which will hopefully also be at IBM.

The general atmosphere was always lively in the office, especially on my floor as there were lots of interns sitting close to each other which gave a nice, friendly environment to be working in. One of the best things was that people were free to go and talk to others openly and discuss things.

The placement was really well set up from start to finish. The application process was quick and efficient, and as interns we were really well looked after and supported throughout the entire year. There have been multiple day events and individual sessions to help us with our choices for the future.

I feel the company has invested a lot in my, allowing me to attend several seminars and day events to help better understand my role and the wider industry I am a part of here. It has also given me the resources to explore training in other sides of the business I do not work in directly, which has enabled me to partake in training which I believe will be relevant to my future career here.

Future employment prospects are very appealing within my organisation. I am reapplying for the graduate programme as soon as this internship is finished, and I am hoping to go into the sales programme after completing my final year at University. I know that I could have a lengthy and successful career at IBM in the future.

Yes, there was a very good social scene for placement students, which we all made the most of over the year. Being trained for 2 days on an induction prior to starting work in the offices was a great introduction to each of our colleagues, and forged great friendships to be continued over the year.

Living in London meant the cost of living and socialising was naturally a lot higher than in other areas, however, a rise in salary reflected this higher cost of living and I do not feel it was ever a problem or stopped us from being able to do what we wanted throughout the year.

The nightlife was great where we have been working. Being in central London was a great experience for working life, and I would not consider working anywhere else when I return for a graduate job after University.

Yes there were lots of opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work, particulalry sports clubs and social occasions. The only problem with being in London is the lack of actual space in the city to do many of the sports we may have wanted, however this didn't stop us enjoying the ones we did.