High Availability Hardware Engineer Review

by IBM

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

7.8/10

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

My role as a Hardware engineer is to be available to travel to client sites and repair any faults found with their systems. I do this for a large number of clients and need to be organised in the way I plan each day.

7/10

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

I have been trained on a number of different types of Hardware, from Storage through to Large Servers. This has been great for my technical skills. And where I travel to many different sites each day I get to meet with all kinds of Clients.

6/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

I really enjoy this role with IBM. However this a role that takes a lot of training to learn about the vast number of Hardware you may be faced with. The fact you travel to different sites each day means that you rarely see your team. But you also get a lot of freedom each day.

9/10

4. How valued do you feel by IBM?

I feel valued in the work that I do because of the number of clients I help. And sometimes these can be extremely important fixes to their business.

4/10

5. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The Apprenticeship itself has great training with it, and my Early professionals manager is always there to support me. I think there could have been more education on the mapping documentation earlier on in the scheme. However I think this is being resolved now already by IBM>

8/10

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

Highbury provide us with no support and everything is done within IBM. This is not an issue at all. I have enough support within IBM and this is not needed.

10/10

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

I have plenty of mentors and monthly catch ups with Foundation. I can also reach out to manager anytime and they are always available to support me.

10/10

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

My Salary and benefit package is great. IBM provided me with a company car and hotels whenever it is needed for client travel or training. My salary is good for an apprenticeship.

10/10

8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?

There are many opportunities for volunteering and doing giveback. IBM club do also offer other social activities and sports events. Although I haven't been made aware of any close to me recently. i think these are more prominent for IBMers working at an IBM location.

6/10

9. Would you recommend IBM to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

I feel proud to work for IBM and feel that the work that I do is worthwhile. I am extremely grateful to IBM for giving me the opportunity to grow within this scheme.

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

Be confident and once you are in IBM network as much as possible. Having that network of people around you will help you massively. Especially if you can use them as mentors.