Technical Specialist Review

I felt like I had a very good role on my placement where I was allowed to get invovled in a lot of projects that my team did as well as having the opportunity to work on my own projects. I felt like an important part of my team and that what I was doing was actually necessary for my team.

I felt like I was very important and a valued part of my team. My team were all friendly and we had a good in and out of work relationship.

I would say that my team supervisor and team manager were very supportive throughout the year and in my monthly one to one meetings with them disucssed my development and then supported me based on what I said. However at IBM you also have a development manager outside of your team which for me was something that didn't really benefit me and I didn't feel like I could speak to them.

My day to day role changed daily as a lot of my work was project based which ensured that I was not doing something the same every day as others here do. At times I felt too busy but at other times I felt like I had some time allowing me to do university work or education.

I had a very important role in my team which without me would have had to have been filled by any other full time employee which is not always the case with interns. Throughout the year we also had an employee leave allowing me to take on even more responsibility in the time that they were not replaced.

I would say the day to day skills of being a part of a busy working environment benefited me greatly such as being on calls to clients, email skills and prioritising work. however with regards to my degree I don't think much I have done here will benefit me on my degree.

The atmosphere in my office was good as most of my team were located in the same location as me everyday allowing me to develop friendships with them. I was very fortunate as I know many others who were the only members of their team based in this location making it quite a lonely experience for them. However I would say the base location I am in is far too big for the ammount of employees who work here meaning that it felt quite empty in most other areas.

My team has had placement students for many years so I felt like they knew what to expect which helped me develop and fit into the team quickly. I would say however that the IBM foundation was not as well run often causing confusion by sending numerous emails about the same subject.

IBM as a company offer a lot of training and education in all different areas should you have time to look at it. My managers also were there to support me and get me involved in areas that I was interested in as well as having shadowing opportunities with roles I may be interested in, in the future.

Throughout the year IBM talk about the graduate scheme and give you advice on how to apply for the graduate scheme as well as a quick path to get onto it. However we have been told that only a small percentage of placement students actually make it onto the graduate scheme which is quite negative when looking to come back. It almost seems that being here for a year has no impact to if you had been at another company for a year.

Overall I would say due to my team being located here we had some great team events throughout the year where I was welcome. There were also a lot of placement students based here which was good however a lot of them were not the kind of people I tend to get along with.

I would say the area was quite expensive however I expected this with it being in the south. The area near the offices is also not a great place to live so it required us travelling in on a daily basis which is quite expensive on trains which IBM do not cover.

I would say the nightlife for a university area is one of the worst places I have ever been. There are a limited number of clubs and not a lot to do in the city as a whole.

IBM didn't really set any events up for placement students and as previously mentioned there were no persk like gym membership or anything. Luckily my team and the interns here had football sessions and also we got together but the company did not offer anything at all.