IT Infrastructure Specialist (AIX) Review

by IBM

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

8.7/10

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

IT infrastructire Specialist (AIX) Maintain the UNIX infrastructure for the development environments for our team Responsibility for uptime and recovery in case of faults Responsibility for maintenance of backups I interact daily with our local team and the wider global team on a range of issues, supporting them in their daily tasks and helping move projects forward, to ensure our environment is up to date and secure. Daily tasks include - user ID management, backup management, support activities, monitoring and work on ongoing projects and system administrator tasks.

8/10

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

Qualified AIX administrator 3 weeks AIX IBM courses (recognised externally) Level 3 Apprenticeship in IT 6 weeks of professional skills courses (internal)

9/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

My team and the other apprentices are incredibly supportive and fun to work with, as well as the wider IBM culture fostering personal development very well. It has been great fun!

8/10

4. How valued do you feel by IBM?

IBM UK are very keen on apprentices and are really growing to value our contributions, and all apprentices are given "real" jobs, so our value is apparent very quickly. The wider company is still coming to terms with apprenticeships but the culture is such that everyone is valued regardless and personal growth is fostered and encouraged anyway.

10/10

5. How well organised/structured is your programme?

There is lots of structure to the programme, and professional skills learning is very well organised; learning technical skills varies by role so much that it is left to each apprentice to find the learning they need in addition to the "basic" IT skills courses. This is easy with the help of our immediate team and task manager.

9/10

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

Our Personal Development Manager and all course tutors are very supportive indeed, helping us through any and all problems we are having that could affect our progression through the course (including personal issues such as housing)

9/10

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

Our Personal Development Manager, task managers and all course tutors are very supportive indeed, helping us through any and all problems we are having that could affect our progression through the course (including personal issues such as housing)

9/10

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

Salary begins low for the job that we do, (by comparison with the industry) however this has risen quickly, and is on track to compete with the Graduate programme. Compared to other apprenticeships, the salary is excellent, however.

8/10

8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?

There is a funded social club, and many events, activities and schemes that one can partake in, according to one's interests.

8/10

9. Would you recommend IBM to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

It's a great place to work

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

Be yourself and learn not to be modest about skills you have (where appropriate) and be ready to learn!