Infrastructure Specialist Review

by IBM

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

6.1/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

Infrastructure specialist. Working with Unix and Windows based systems. Maintaining virtual environments and general day to day upkeep of physical and virtual servers.

7/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

Passed level 3 qualification. Completed several other course, ITIL, RedHat Certified Administration, also internal education. Added to my technical abilities through hands on activities. Learning how to fix physical machines and also fault find at a virtual level.

6/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

The team I work in is very good. However the processes and systems in place, which are enforced by IBM itself can be restrictive and tiresome. The training itself and life experience is valuable enough to counteract this however.

8/10

4. How valued do you feel by IBM?

I feel like I am by my team and to an extent my manager, however I feel more and more like a resource in the wider company, and just a figure on a piece of paper.

3/10

5. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The group of apprentices I was with had quite a smooth and consistent amount of training, however I am aware of some intakes which have had very large gaps between training courses and have been given very short deadlines to achieve tasks. Overall I would say it's okay though.

8/10

6a. How much support do you receive from your training provider?

I have had little to no interaction with my training provider.

7/10

6b. How much support do you receive from your employer?

I feel like there is a lot of support if you require it, I have had a lot of support from my team and close friends when required, but personally haven't needed to reach for help much beyond that.

5/10

7. How well does your salary/package meet your costs?

it exceeds my costs, however I feel like I am being paid below the market rate for the work I do.

5/10

8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?

There are lots of social events and teams, but they are not always advertised as well as they could be.

6/10

9. Would you recommend IBM to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

Good pay and a good company to have on your CV, I dont know if I will be looking to grow my career further here though, or if I will be looking elsewhere.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to IBM?

Be sure to read everything carefully and proof read everything. Be confident in yourself and dont try too hard to fit the criteria you 'Think' they want. Take advantage of opportunities which are offered to you, it's better to get your foot in the door and then create a more flexible solution after that.