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University: Durham University
Degree subject: English Literature and Education
Insider Tip: Do your research

• Why did you apply IBM?

  I’d heard really good things from friends who were already on the Graduate Scheme. I liked the idea that even for doing a technical role, such as IT consultancy, they would accept applications from people without technical degrees.

• What does your role involve?

  At the moment I am working as an IT Consultant, in IBM Global Business Services. As a graduate on that scheme I get the opportunity to move around and work on lots of different projects, at different stages of the project life cycle. So, on one project I could be involved in designing the solution we’re delivering to a client. On another project I could actually be building that, so that’s a bit more technical. On another project I might be involved in the testing or in project management, so making sure that the teams are resourced correctly. There’s so much variety.

• How was you degree related to what you do?

  My degree wasn’t related at all to the job I’m doing at the moment. I did a degree in English and Education. On the face of it that bears no resemblance to working as an IT Consultant, but I think a lot of the skills I learnt when I was at university, I’ve really been able to use in my day to day job. Things like presentation skills, particularly presenting to people who don’t have the amount of knowledge that you do, so having to make sure you are explaining things clearly, and ensuring you have a good understanding of what you are talking about.

• What has your training been like?

  When I first started at IBM I did a really intensive 9 week training course. I learnt about being on a project and the project life cycle, and did a significant amount of Java training, so learnt how to so some programming. That was really hard work as I had never done anything like that before. The way the course was structured was really to get you to engage with the concepts, not to become an expert programmer in 9 weeks.

• How has Foundation helped you?

  Every graduate that joins IBM in the UK comes in through the Foundation Scheme, which gives you the opportunity to experience lots of different parts of the area of the business you are working in. I think it’s a really great scheme. It’s there to provide you with support when you join such a big organisation, to help you find your place. You also get assigned a PDM, which is a Professional Development Manager. That’s someone who doesn’t necessarily work in the same part of IBM as you but is there to help you with career decisions, with understanding about how life works in such a big company.

• How do you see your career developing?

  I think in the future I would like to move into Strategy Consultancy as it’s something that I’m quite interested in. In the meantime, in order to gain the experience I need to do that, it’s really great to have the opportunity to work on lots of different projects and lots of different areas in solution delivery.

• What ‘giveback’ activities have you been involved in?

  IBM has this great thing called ‘Giveback’ which is where they encourage you to get involved in activities that are completely unrelated to your day job but in some way allow you to give something back to the company, or more importantly the wider community. One of the things I’m involved in is a programme called MentorPlace, where I act as a business mentor for a student in London who is currently studying for a BTEC in Business Studies. We communicate via email where we are given a topic to discuss each week and I’ll maybe give her advice on the work she’s working on or things like helping her write her CV or helping her think about where she wants to go with her career. It’s been a really great project to work on

• What would you highlight to someone about working at IBM?

  I think the thing many graduates don’t realise about IBM is how varied the work is that people do here. You can work in any area of business you are interested in, and that’s an amazing opportunity to be able to stay in one company yet have all those different types of experiences. I think as a graduate that is really invaluable when starting out in your career.