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I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at IBM. I was given genuine responsibility right from the word go, and was able to get a really good experience of what working life is like in a professional environment. My role itself was the right combination of interesting and challenging, however, as I was part of a wider support team, I didn't get as much immediate team work as I would have liked.

Because I worked in a broader support role, I didn't have an immediate team like the other placement 西瓜视频s I worked with. This meant that I generally worked with a larger number of people, but on a less personal basis. This meant that I got a very good experience of how the company operates on a larger scale, but was unable to form as many close relationships with colleagues as some of the other placement 西瓜视频s did. However, I did feel incredibly valued by the colleagues that I worked closely with.

Each intern is given a task manager who looks after their day to day workload, and another manager that looks after their personal and professional development. As a result, I had two support lines that I could go to for relevant help depending on what issue I was having. At the beginning of the placement year, I had an extended handover period for 4 weeks which allowed me to get a lot of initial guidance and education. I was then able to shadow my task manager for as long as I wanted in order to gain more understanding into the functioning of the company and our team in general.

Generally I was kept very busy on a daily basis, with a mixture of routine and ad-hoc tasks. Throughout the year, my workload changed depending on new responsibilities and issues. If at any point I was quiet, I had the opportunity to branch out to the extended team to find more work, but it was very rare that I had any particularly long quiet periods. As you'd expect, quarter and year end periods are very busy so I expected my workload to increase slightly at those points.

As soon as I was settled in my role, I was given genuine responsibility and ownership of tasks. As my role progressed, I was entrusted with more and more, and after 6 months in my placement, I was given complete ownership of certain tasks, allowing me to fully understand processes from start to finish, and be involved at all stages. Also, there is plenty of guidance and help due to the size of the company, so I never found myself stuck on a task that couldn't be solved.

On top of developing technical skills based around computer tasks (Excel etc.), I was able to really develop softer skills such as confidence and communication. These will be particularly important during and after my degree, especially when I return to a professional work environment, where strong confidence and communication skills are vital. In terms of training, I was able to take advantage of internal training and education opportunities, which gave me a wider range of transferable skills that will help me in the future.

As it is a very professional environment, there is generally a very serious atmosphere in the office, especially in client facing sites like South Bank. However, placement 西瓜视频s will often work or sit together, and that creates a very fun atmosphere that creates a nice balance.

Due to the size and the popularity of the placement scheme, it is very well organized from start to finish.

There are countless opportunities to get involved with personal training and development. As employees, you are encouraged to take part in 40 hours of education each year, and there are plenty of other internal opportunities for training. I took part in a 6 week programming course as it was an area that interested me but was completely separate from my role.

All placement 西瓜视频s have to go through most of the application process again if they want to return as graduates. However, the graduate roles are well set up and very appealing to placement 西瓜视频s that are leaving.

I worked alongside several other placement 西瓜视频s on a daily basis, which meant that there was a very strong social scene amongst us. Also, the London office has a larger number of placement 西瓜视频s working there, so there is a stronger social scene there than in other offices, especially due to the central city location.

I lived at home, but worked in London, so very contrasting costs in terms of cost of living and cost of socialising.

No shortage of nightlife in Central London, but very expensive.

There are plenty of giveback opportunities based around volunteering which employees are encouraged to get involved in.