Market Development Advisor Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year, the role of a Market Advisor was interesting and challenging and allowed me to have a great overview of a large corporation, with the opportunity to travel abroad enhancing the experience further.

In most cases I felt a very valued IBMer, most certainly with my immediate team and close stakeholders. As an intern, it is possible to come across some more dismissive colleagues who do not see you as a real employee, but this is part of being a young professional in the corporate world.

I was given complete support in my responsibilities within and outside of my role. My manager has always encouraged me to go into other areas of the business to further my education, which I have made the most of in my placement.

I enjoyed being busy throughout my time as an intern, the days go far quicker and you get far more out of being busy then not having enough work. On some occasions near the beginning I used my initiative to identify opportunities for projects, which allowed me to build relationships with stakeholders which stood me in good stead for the rest of my time.

I was given real work from an early stage in my placement, I gained the trust of my manager to interact with important stakeholders and have presented to senior people in the business on multiple occasions, with full support from my manager.

The skills I have learnt on placement have far outweighed the skills I gained from my first 2 years of university, I will take these skills into working life and life in general and will go back to university looking to further build on this

The placement scheme at IBM is very well organised, there is a dedicated team that looks after all of the placement students, there is a big intern community and everyone in the company is aware or the placeement set up, with interns being an integral part to the day-to-day running on the business.

I had the opportunity to go to San Diego and Windsor for week long training in my placement year which is a clear indication of how IBM view interns. I felt very invested in, and I also had multiple mentors as well as my managers which really enhanced my personal development.