Cloud Enterprise Recovery Specialist Review

by IBM

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

8.8/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

Cloud Enterprise Recovery Specialist. Responsible for maintaining customer system backups, preparing an environment for them to recover their production system (whether in test mode or invocation. Also have to host customers when they come on to an IBM site.

8/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

Started with 0 skills and experience in this role/line of work. Have learnt a lot about this role in the year or so I have been doing it. I've also completed the ITIL Foundation course, an externally recognised qualification for service management.

10/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

It is a very good programme to be involved in. Would of liked a bit more of an opportunity to rotate the role I am, only for the chance to experience more of the company. The team has been very committed to my development which is great to see,.

7/10

4. How valued do you feel by IBM?

Feel very valued. Have won an internal award from my manager, got a very good annual appraisal, and great feedback from my team about my involvement in work and separate projects throughout my time at IBM.

10/10

5. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The programme has a really good structure, with a number of internal courses in place throughout the apprenticeship. There is a vast support network for you if and when you need it

10/10

6a. How much support do you receive from your training provider?

Little-No support from the college itself. We have a whole 3-5 day course within Foundation to go over all the mapping/coursework we will have to complete, although this could come earlier in the program

8/10

6b. How much support do you receive from your employer?

Your Early Professional Manager is your first port of call for any issue, but there is also a buddy and mentor system in place for any advice you require that would not need a managers attention.

10/10

7. How well does your salary/package meet your costs?

The pay rises we receive are definitely required in order to be relative to the amount of work you are doing throughout the apprenticeship. The salary early on can be a slight challenge, especially for those London based.

8/10

8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?

There is an IBM club that gives a lot of opportunities to do events outside of work. There is also the occasional team building event/trip, although these are not as regular as I would like.

8/10

9. Would you recommend IBM to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

It is a great place to work. It is such a big name as well, and its always good to have experience working for a large company. The opportunities are massive as well due to the size of the company, so you'd really struggle to not find something you liked.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to IBM?

There is actually a lot of advice online about applying to IBM, and a lot of it is true. Interview wise, don't do anything to predictable and obvious. Talking about IBM Watson is the main one, everyone knows about it, interviewers do not really want to hear about the same part of it again and again, so try and pick a topic a bit further out that they may not know about. IBM is so large, you can't know about everything we do.