This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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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 enjoyed my placement at the beginning of my role however, 5 months' into my internship my role changed. My new role was very spreadsheet based and although I was able to become knowledgeable around excel, and data analysis I was unable to develop other key areas of development.
I felt valued some of the time however, my manager could be quite sharp and at time the work I contributed was unappreciated. This made my time here less enjoyable than it should have been.
I felt I had support from my task manager some of the time, however I did have some problems with being told to complete a piece of work a certain way and then it being changed when the team lead spoke to us. The team lead could be quite sharp which meant that I felt unable to ask her questions, and felt that my opinion wasn't valued.
I enjoy being in a role that keeps me incredibly busy so this role was good in that respect.
The role I did at the beginning of my placement had a lot of responsibility however, when I moved roles the responsibility seemed less and I was exposed to less managers.
I feel that I have learned some vital skills for my future career however, I will be very careful that the role I pick is not so spreadsheet orientated and involves some customer interaction.
The Company
So the majority of the team worked from home so this meant that there was only myself and the other intern that came into the office. I felt that this meant that there was team spirit and the atmosphere in the office was lacking. In the end, I moved to sit with other interns but it would be have been nice to be able to sit with all the team at least a few days a week.
I was employed to complete one role and then moved to another within 5 months' of my placement. Had this role been offered to me before I joined I would have probably declined. It was known that my role would change when I was offered however, I was not told anything about this. I believe I should have been told as this may have affected my overall decision to join IBM for my placement year. Other than that, I enjoyed the shadowing opportunities I could take part in and people were always willing to help.
We could take free training but no paid training was available to us. However, there are tons of free courses that you can take online which is really good for interns as you can take a course in literally anything.
Flexi Time
Working from home
Future employment prospects are really appealing and they offer some very good graduate roles. I have applied back to the graduate scheme but under a different business unit where I could hopefully get more experience, and responsibility.
The Culture
There was quite a good student scene amongst the interns, and they all went out regularly. I would have enjoyed a little more of a social scene but overall quite good.
The cost of living and socialising was very good and did not cost very much at all.
The nightlife was quite good and there is a range of bars / clubs that you can go to. Overall, I really enjoyed the nightlife! Obviously it is not as good as London but you can't really expect that.
There were opportunities with the other interns, and there was also a location team that set up some good events!
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South East
July 2016