Global Business Services Operations Review

by IBM

Best Student Employer

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.6/5
  • The Role
    3.8
  • The Company
    3.4
  • The Culture
    3.5

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

    • I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. IBM provide excellent training and really make you feel welcome. Some periods were quite stressful however that was team specific.

    4/5
  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

    • I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. My team was relatively small so I played quite a big role in the team, providing tooling support for a variety of security tools.There were times when I often felt "alone" and had to fend for myself. Fortunately I excel in high-pressure environments but I know other interns wouldn't have liked it.

    4/5
  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

    • When joining IBM you are given both an EPM (Early Professionals Manager) and a task manager (Who you work for).We were provided with excellent support however it was often hard to reach your manager's due to them being mobile/unavailable.

    4/5
  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

    • I was kept very busy in my role as i had multiple tasks to complete often. However i know many others who were left with no work at times and spent their time simply on youtube. You need to ask for work sometimes but in order to make the most of your placement you need to identify times and opportunities to make more work for yourself.

    4/5
  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

    • Alot! The work is given to you and left to you to complete. Sometimes i was given really big projects to run and the work that i was given to complete really made a difference to the team! Often we would be submitting bids and proposals and if we messed up it could mean our team loosing millions!

    4/5
  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

    • It did teach me a lot about talking to different types of people and people in senior roles, giving me confidence. It also gave me more insights into the selling techniques and ways of establishing/maintaining client relationships.

    4/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

    • It is often very quiet and not as social as i would have liked it to be. I was the youngest in my team and most of the time, because mobile working is encouraged, my team were not around. However, some offices i had worked in were much more better than others.

    3/5
  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

    • Very well, they have a lot of meetings, educational sessions and socials set up and it is structured really well! You are all placed in a foundation society and received emails frequently about what is happening etc. The work side of things are a little less organised as it is up to your manager to set that.

    4/5
  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

    • IBM offers various courses and educational teachings as part of their Think40 programme. There are also multiple ways of training but directly they do not invest in you. You have to make the effort to learn yourself. I managed to get in touch with one of the leaders of the Sales School for IBM in hope to do a day of shadowing there.

    3/5
  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?

    • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    Sports and Social Club

    Company Parties/Events

    Above 25 days holiday
    4/5
  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

    • Very appealing. The company allows you to work from home quite often, depending on your role, and this is very appealing to me. All graduates start on £30k which is very good for when leaving university straight into a job. I think the opportunities at this company are endless.

    4/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

    • Yes, every Thursday we would go for drinks at the local pub and we would have Christmas parties. There were a lot of weekend events organised too. But this differs according to the base locations.

    4/5
  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

    • London is very exp! Although the experience was amazing, i wasn't able to save as much as anticipated, and many others did struggle. However, IBM do pay you 3 grand more for living in the capital city.

    3/5
  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

    • Amazing, as you can imagine London is very vibrant but as it is expensive, we didn't go out much

    4/5
  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

    • You were able to attend charity events on behalf of IBM, run sessions at schools etc.

    4/5
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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

London

January 2016

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