Resiliency Services Offerings Portfolio Manager Review

I can confidently say working at IBM must have been one of the highlights of my whole university experience. It was amazing to get an opportunity to learn about the real world working environment before actually finishing uni. I learned a lot about the corporate culture, operations, internal processes; met fantastic people that have broadened my horizons in all possible aspects: new knowledge, new skills and new areas of career that I never knew about. However, there was one minor thing that has made my experience a bit of a struggle: I am a creative person with no particular passion for IT & technology industry. I did learn a lot about big data, coding, app design and development; but I cannot imagine staying at such extremely complicated industry without prior background in or strong passion for IT.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues - including everyone: interns, apprentice, grads, regular IBMers. One of the best things about IBM is the feeling of recognition you receive when working alongside your colleagues - both within and outside your role. All the people I've been lucky to work with, greeted me like family and made me feel like home.

I cannot say that I was lucky to receive as much guidance and support as some of my other fellow interns. Reason being that my manager is based in Ireland, whereas my primary location is London, Southbank. As it was impossible for me to watch my manager at work and learn from his experience, I found it difficult at times to cope with some of the aspects of my job responsibilities, as I have had to learn on my own.

I'd say this always depends. At the start of my placement, when I was busy learning about my role and the key processes that come with it, I have been extremely busy. Once I started getting comfortable with my role, I realised I get way more extra time than I used to and as I like the feeling of being constantly busy, I started taking on additional projects that have substantially transformed my daily routine. Therefore, how busy you are depends on two main things: complexity of your role and readiness to get involved in something extra.

You get the full breadth of responsibility since day 1. In IBM everyone, even interns, are considered as a legitimate part of the team and is therefore trusted with every decision they make.

My year with IBM has substantially transformed my view on future employment, as it helped me discover areas of the professional world that I never knew about. The opened learning culture at IBM encourages everyone to gain full on experience in any area you are interested in.

Atmosphere is always different depending on what part of IBM you get into. GTS (Global Technology Services) falls into more traditional IBM with many bureaucratic processes and routines, whereas GBS (Global Business Services) is more dynamic and open to the change and transformation. iX (interactive Experience) is the most interesting one to me as something fresh and original, so the corporate culture really does affect the atmosphere in the office! However, no matter what team you belong to, the people always do make it a great place to be.

All the placement, apprentice and grad programmes are supported by the Foundation, some sort of HR division that specifically looks after early professionals. Each individual is therefore given their own HR manager that looks after their progress in the placement, ensures the intern achieves their objectives, achieves results in personal development and overall gets the most of their year. Those managers are also there to provide any guidance and support in case an intern faces any sort of difficulties within their placement. Moreover, Foundation also organises and funds any extra educational/ personal development/ experience projects for the interns to get involved with in their own time. Throughout the placement, interns undergo three types of reviews: 3 month review (set to determine whether the new starter is comfortable with their new role), 6 months review (also known as probation review), as well as final review - set to review your overall growth, achievements & development throughout the year.

One of the things I absolutely love about IBM is a never ending opportunity to learn - both within and outside your role. You can join with no technical experience whatsoever, but quickly learn and obtain all the necessary skills thanks to the learning programmes kindly provided by IBM.

I think anyone with strong passion for technology and eagerness to learn is likely to succeed within the company. It may be harder for those that lack this passion, however.

Depending on your primary location, you get different exposure to fellow students. I was based in Southbank, home to around 100 (or more) interns, so it was always very sociable and fun to work at. However, if you are based in more distant offices, it may be that there will be only 20 other interns working with you - which I guess is therefore the case of quality over quantity.

On average, every intern has spent around £700 for the living, £100+ for travelling and £200 for entertainment a month. It all very much depends on what area of London you end up at.

Amazing! London provides a full range of entertainment that would suit any party type.

There are so many things you can get involved with in London: ranging from dance classes to yoga, sports, fitness, volunteering, arts etc.