Business and Finance Analyst Review

My placement was definitely an eye opening experience. I was thrown in at the deep end with huge responsibility, but with a great support network. Over the year I have been able to experience several roles across IBM and gain great insight into the business and the further market. I have also developed a strong network and some great friends. I could not recommend it more.

at all times I was treated like a normal colleague, and not a student. Often when working with colleagues I hadn't previously worked with, they would not even realise that I was a student until it casually came up in conversation. This treatment shows just how much respect there is for students within IBM.

My manager was always available to me, no question was considered a "stupid question". This support was really valuable in finding my feet within my role. Towards the end of the year however I moved to a new role where I had no direct manager. This meant that there was let support around me than I was used to, but wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

No 2 days were ever the same. The variety of the work that I did meant that some days I would be working non-stop from 9 till 5, also carrying on with work when I got home. On the other hand there would be days where I was done by 10am. However there is always something that can be done, and if not then there was always plenty of education and online courses that I could do to pass the time.

The responsibility I had was huge. My main role involved reporting to all the internal CFOs on a quarterly basis. I was responsible for booking large sums of money for these internal businesses. This role was really demanding and was a lot to place in the hands of a student. In my second role I was left to work directly with the client of a regular basis. This often meant traveling to the clients office by myself and representing IBM.

My role was not directly relevant to my degree. However the professional skills that I developed could be applied to my final year of my degree. This placement has prepared my for my final year, and I am in a much better position than I would be in if I had not done a placement year.

Varied. My first role was based in a small office with just the 4 members of my team. Although we had a good rapport it was difficult not being able to sit and talk with the other students and employees, (apart from at lunch). When I moved roles I moved into a large open floor, filled with employees and fellow placement students. The floor was incredibly sociable. There was always someone walking past or wanting to chat for 2 minutes.

The recruitment process was very quick for me, I found, applied, and got the placement in a reasonably short space of time. When I arrived I had the standard IBM 2 day induction to go over the basics. When I met my team and started my role there was a few issues around getting my laptop set up, especially with the niche programs and "accesses" that my role required.

Throughout the year there was a number of events and courses aimed at self improvement. There were workshops aimed at core skills and endless opportunities to gain insight into the further business.

The graduate roles do not directly link to what I have done in the last year, however I would be more than happy to return to IBM as a graduate

Yes. There was around 50 fellow placement students located in the same offices. Most of us lived in houses with each other and the social scene was always there. Thursday nights were always a big night out, then there were holidays going on, as well as 5 a side football and loads of other chances to relax.

About the same as being in student. A room in a house is usually about £350 a month, plus living in the "student" areas of Portsmouth meant only a 15/20 minute commute in the morning. Student nights are always on and there are cheap places to go out and eat and drink if you want.

Plenty of clubs, there is always a place to go out any night of the week. Thursday and Friday nights are the biggest for us placement students. With a big Liquid & Envy and a Tiger Tiger as the main clubs.

This depends on how sociable you are. as a group we organised to play 5 a side football each week. But there plenty of other activities going on. there was bowling, tennis, going to the beach, going to the pub ect. It was just a case of finding other students who wanted to do the same thing.