Stephen tells us how his BU placement year has landed him a job after university…

Sitting in the IBM auditorium in the North Harbour, Portsmouth office, I was completely unaware of what would come of the next 12 months. I’d just finished my exams the week before, and now I was being inducted as a new IBM placement student. Throughout the selection process, both the BU placement team and the IBM-ers I spoke with told me about how good this year would be. I was about to find out.

My first job at IBM involved working in an employee development team that was connected to a business unit. I got to work with processes like recruitment, performance management and employee efficiency, where I was able to draw on elements of my studies. One of the great things about the job was that my manager gave me a lot of support to add new tasks, as well as the freedom to work on my professional development. Outside of my day job, I got involved with outreach projects like interviewing school children local to the office, which was a great experience, and one of many!

Interviewing local school children

After working in the role for 9 months, there was an opportunity to extend my placement into the summer, as part of a programme called the ‘HR Speed Internship’. The programme is designed for high performing interns who want to pursue a career in HR, and includes joining a multinational team to solve a global HR issue. Part of the programme involved travelling to IBM Global HQ in New York, where my team and I presented the findings of our project to the HR Executive team. It was one of the most rewarding and petrifying experiences of my life in equal measures!

While I was in New York, I was interviewed for and succeeded in getting a place on the IBM HR Leadership Development Graduate programme. When I finish my degree this summer, I’ll be going back to work in HR, with a three-year contract that involves a year on international assignment.

IBM’s office in Hursley where I would organise recruitment days

I’ve got a lot to thank BU for when I look back on my placement. There are obvious things like making me aware of the job advertisement, but there’s more to it than that. Through the things that I’ve learned on my course, both in theory and practice, the university couldn’t have set me up much better.By Stephen Moss 

Stephen is studying BA (Hons) Business Studies with Human Resource Management