HR Partner Support Review

My placement role is HR Partner Support and is based in HR Business Unit. In my role I give essential support to UK and Ireland HR Partners to enable their collaboration with business leaders to drive people strategy, culture, performance, and growth. As a result, I am involved in various processes, such as promotions, talent reviews, employee engagement, diversity initiatives, and immigration compliance - using data and analytics to develop useful insights about the workforce. I do this by using various databases to obtain data tailored to my purposes. By engaging with my clients and delivering the best suited solutions, my work results can be relied on when tracking the performance of the business, analysing its overall position, and shaping next steps.

I improved my communication skills and gained a lot of confidence. I also significantly improved my technical skills and became proficient in using Excel. I feel I also became better at problem-solving and learnt how does the great teamwork look like.

Yes, I have been given a lot of responsibilities during my placement year. I had a lot of tasks that I needed to fulfill on my own. I also have been involved in project management on a few occasions. At times, I was responsible for covering my colleagues roles in the times of their absence.

I have received a lot of support during my placement year. My task manager have been fantastic and always ready to help. Other, more and less senior colleagues, were also very supportive and often offered some additional guidance if needed.

The company culture and general atmosphere were surprisingly very positive - I thought it might be very different before I joined taking into consideration that IBM is a very large corporation. There is a massive emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, people are generally very nice and helpful.

I really enjoyed my placement year. I gained a lot of experience and industry knowledge. I improved my soft skills and meet many fantastic people on my journey. I think it was fantastic opportunity and I am very glad I could be part of the IBM community.

Yes

Be yourself. Do your research. Be positive. Assessment centers can be very stressful - but try to focus on the effective communication and great teamwork rather than fulfilling the assigned task perfectly on your own.