Innovation Analyst Review

I am an innovation analyst, which means my job is to use technology to improve internal processes in the company. On a day-to-day basis, I will usually spend the day developing one project to improve a specific person or team's processes. This has included making web apps and automation tools.

Yes. This year I've learnt how to develop web apps with database backends with NodeJS, automated testing, DevOps practices, web game development and many other things that I used in projects. Although I often had to learn these by doing, having a need for them pointed me in the right direction to start. That being said, I was given almost no direct training.

There were definitely ups and downs. I worked for a client and the program lacked supervision, which meant that often preventable problems, like not having anything to do for days or weeks at a time or having problems with other people in the team, would pop up that shouldn't.

Mine wasn't well organised at all, but the programme is very variable. You are guided by regular IBM employees who often have no previous experience training interns so they don't always know what to do. My team was disbanded early in the year and it took over half a year to arrange for new work, during which time we had no daily manager, which is a real problem.

I received a lot of support when I reached out for it. I had some personal issues through the year and both my task managers and my Early Professional Manager were understanding very often. They really want you to get the most out of the year while being a useful employee.

There was no training provider in this internship. There is an optional training website providing links to various training resources, including one I got the opportunity to contribute to, but they are all self guided. In the main campuses some optional training programmes do occur but if you are not in a main campus you will have far less access to those.

I have received no formal educational qualification. However, IBM does allow you to work towards "Open Badges", which are recognised certificates that you have completed an IBM training programme on a specific subject. These can be useful on a resume to back up your most vital skills and in teaching you new ones. They are completely optional.

You can get involved in as much or as little as you'd like. Most teams have socials occasionally, though the frequency and budget vary. It's such a big organisation there's a bit of everything going on. You can do extra projects outside of your role called "giveback" and there are quite a few networking events, as well as talks and Q&As with a variety of people in different roles in the company.

No

The lack of organisation and consistency between different people's experiences makes it very difficult to recommend. While some people get exactly the support they need, some slip between the cracks and it can make for a very frustrating experience. There's very little way to guarantee which of these people you will be before starting your role.

Study up, know what IBM stands for (both literally the acronym and what the company's values are. Try to be a team player in the assessment day and relax. Most people you meet are super nice and understanding and genuinely just want you to have a good time, especially during the application. Even if you don't know what's going on, don't sweat it, find some giveback projects, make up new tasks and enjoy your time.