Junior Management Consultant Review

My role has varied massively across the apprenticeship but for the first year or so, I was based in a PMO role. This was predominantly a support role and involved a lot of admin tasks which wasn't really what I was after. More recently, and after a lot of effort I have managed to move into better roles where I have spent much more time interacting with clients and actually consulting.

I have learnt lots of new skills throughout my time at IBM so far and there is a lot of money invested into various training courses. The job roles that you find yourself in vary quite a lot so you do get to learn and develop lots of skills you didn't necessarily think you would.

Work - A couple of the roles I have really enjoyed, however the majority of them I have not. On the flip side, I know some of the other apprentices have got lucky and been in roles they really enjoyed the whole time. Team - Your team will change all the time due to the nature of IBM. Having said that all my colleagues and teams I have been in, have been really good. Company Culture - Varies from project and team but usually quite good. How well does it meet my expectations? - It's very different from what I thought it would be, not sure if its better or not. Do I enjoy it? - Again completely varies on role, some roles I would give 9 or 10/10 but some roles I could give a 3 or 4/10

In all honesty, it's not very well structured and there seems to be a lot of people on my course who are in the same boat. There is a reason for this though; we are in one of the first few groups on the new course, so no one had completed it yet and the management team hadn't been through it yet.

Support is always there when you go and ask for it, you are assigned a manager to look after your apprentice intake and from my experience, mines always been there to talk to. The only thing that is lacking, is the support in finding new appropriate roles. Due to the nature of a consulting company they are more keen to have you doing anything rather than waiting to find something you want to do.

So far so good on this one, as I said above when you go and ask for support someone will be there to help and people seem quite keen to. The only improvement is making the rest of the business more aware that as an apprentice you need time off of your project to complete coursework.

Overall, I think that the training and qualification helps me perform better at my job. As my apprenticeship has quite a generic title, as you'd expect, they have to cater for a lot of potential job roles within that. This means that you do have to training that doesn't really help you perform better in your current role, but roles change often and it could do in the future.

There is lots of extra curricular activities to get involved with at IBM. There's opportunities to get involved in lots of different communities and doing giveback activities (e.g. attending school leaver fairs). IBM have lots of different avenues to get involved with sports, you just need to find the right person to ask! In terms of social events there is a fair few and depending on which area of the business you are in, you do get a lot!

Yes

I would recommend IBM to a friend because there is so much opportunity here and IBM is a great company. The main downside for me is about some of the roles I have done, but if/when you are in a role you enjoy, it makes a big difference and can be really good fun. You just need to be prepared to grin and bear it sometimes, as I'm sure is the case for other apprenticeships. The training and support is really good throughout and a lot of money is invested in you. IBM is well respected, so it will set you up really well for your future career.

With your application, you want to focus on the traits IBM wants in a person and focus on outlining where you have shown this in the past. With the interview/assessment days, it's a bit like meeting your partner's Mum and Dad for the first time, you want to show off and show them that you are the right person but you don't want to seem arrogant and obnoxious. You need to be polite, be able to interact with people and in group exercises be a team player. Finally, just enjoy it and try not to worry too much. You need to remember that IBM want to want to hire you and so you just need to give them a reason to.