System Engineer Review

This placement year with IBM has exceeded my expectations of the company and opportunity. I wouldn't change a thing if I were to do the year again. I have been very well looked after by the company, and have been given some fantastic opportunities and responsibilities over the year, which have give me a real working experience of a business role within IT.

From day one I have been given responsibility within my team, allowing me to feel a valuable member. This responsibility has grown throughout the year, therefore I have been able to add increasing value which has been recognised via the ACE tool. Similarly, interns are offered many opportunities to take on responsibilities outside of their day to day roles.

I felt that this year my team had to very much manage ourselves as we were given very little guidance from our manager; we were very independent. We had to allocate jobs within the team (luckily, we got on so this wasn't a problem - but may cause issues if this was not the case) and personally I felt very little support from my manager (however this could be due to them being remote - not in the office) when I was struggling in the role and needed some guidance.

I was given plenty of work to keep me busy each day, and lots of opportunities to become involved in extra work where I had spare capacity. There are many opportunities to get involved in side projects outside your own role in IBM, as well as many online learning tools to take advantage of to learn new skills, and the Giveback program to offer support to external events in communities. However as with any job I am sure there are busy periods and quiet periods.

From the start I was given a large amount of responsibility, which has increased accordingly throughout the year. I have dealt with budget, clients and legal documents without a shadow of a doubt that I would be able to cope. The amount of responsibility given to me has allowed me to feel a valued member of my team and the business.

There were some areas which I would have liked to have gained some more experience in over the year, however I didn't get the opportunity to do so. However I have also had experience in areas of the business that I didn't consider would interest me and wouldn't have otherwise picked to experience.I have both built upon existing skills and gained new ones via education sessions, online courses and colleges.

The office I have predominantly worked in was a client site. In the office was the client, IBM, and our subcontractor - so a big mix of friendly faces. Because it was a client site we did have to dress in smarter clothes than the IBM offices, however the atmosphere was always relaxed. There weren't however any other placement students in the office.

As previously mentioned, the structural changes within my business area impacted the organisation of my role initially. During this time I was particularly thankful for my EPM who was able to advise me in how best to deal with this situation. Throughout the year Foundation have been of utmost importance and I'm very grateful for all the support I have received.

There are endless online training materials, workshops, and personal development opportunities within the company to allow you to develop existing skills, and work on new ones. You gain recognition for the amount of time you spend of personal development, and can be rewarded with badges. IBM uses many different pieces of software which you can learn how to use.

My experience so far with IBM has confirmed my belief that this is a fantastic company to work for during your early career - I will therefore most definitely be hoping to secure a role after graduating from university with them to continue to develop my career path with them. I believe the skills I have gained this year will be beneficial in for a graduate role.

As I was on a client account away from IBM offices I very rarely go to meet up with other placement students in the company. I already knew a few other students from my university, however if I hadn't then I would have had very little interaction with the other students unfortunately. But there were still things going on after work and events such as an intern Christmas boat party!

The choice is between living in Leaminghton Spa and Warwick, For a single room (en suite) they are both expensive - Leighton more so, but if you can find people to house-share you can go down to £350 or so per person per month. Leaminghton Spa en suite is £600 (bills included) but is a better location for going out (no clubs in Warwick).

In Warwick the nightlife is limited to very few clubs and mainly pubs (spoons is always a good choice) but if you want to go to a proper nightclub - go to Leaminghton. There are a lot of students from Warwick university that go to Leaminghton. If you value this it might be a good idea to live in Leaminghton not in Warwick

There were a lot of opportunities available to placement students outside of your day to day role - these included events and conferences, volunteering in helping out at internal and external events, side projects, and even the chance to work at Wimbledon. Most of these tended to be in the London area.