IBM

When I joined in June 2022 as part of IBM Consulting, it was the biggest embarkment I think I will ever make in the next 10 years. Being here now six months has made me learn so much and in so little time, so I have to just bullet point my top 8:

• The opportunities for personal growth and future prospects.
• The warmness and kindness of literally everyone I've met in IBM is the most positive virus going round.
• My opportunity to expand my network on LinkedIn with hundreds of other IBMers and senior leading figures in other companies too.
• Flexible working and truly understanding people and clients (if you have a good reason to not be able to travel to client site, then it's perfectly fine).
• The diversity and inclusion is amazing, which allows all to grow as an individual and professionally.
• The experiences and opportunities are never-ending, and company benefits are second-to-none; you just wouldn't find them elsewhere in other large tech firms.
• Your peers and management have always got your back and the best intentions in mind.
• If you are a school leaver starting, just like I was (I had my final A-Level exam 3 days prior to starting) and worried about the age gaps and experience gaps, this is nothing to be worried of. You will quickly learn only from the best and learn far more than you think.

There are not many cons I can think of, just only these to take into consideration as a Level 4 Apprentice (UK):

• Balancing your day-to-day work tasks on top of your apprenticeship learning can easily get too overwhelming (but there is support and help with that).
• Your work-life balance can too easily go into the air, especially as a young person with often (assumed) little responsibilities to take care of (but for those who do, or are getting tired of constant travel for instance, are able to take a break in their favour).
• Reviews, reviews, reviews, and paperwork. It is no surprise there can be a fair amount of paperwork involved in any job; you aren't taking life seriously if you think there can be a minimal or no amount of it. It does feel like with some of the work (not many, and they only happen 2x a year and a lot just applies to Consulting, not elsewhere in IBM) at first is a little unnecessary, but can easily become a big drag to try to get done by the deadlines. As an apprentice, it is made 10x easier with the contract and resources at the ready so not much to state here.

Really though, I think these are more just trivial personal matters that I haven't seen much of in the rest of the real world of work (in tech) yet, so take these with a pinch of salt.

There are overwhelmingly far more positives than negatives, and if you want to go to uni but not be in debt, or are not sure if you have the grades for it, then Level 4 with IBM is the best place to be. You cannot find any opportunities elsewhere quite like this. I know from experience and word of mouth.

A major overhaul on hours forecasting and actual time recording to merge them or make things more automated for correcting discrepancies would be nice.