Sales Operational Support Review

I worked in the Global Markets (GM) Public Sector (PS) sales team, supporting Central Government, Defence and Health Care & Life-Sciences. I had three main responsibilities:
The first was in cadences/deal reporting (using PowerPoint, Excel, Atlas). I updated bi-weekly roadmaps and helped client executives to accurately report their pipelines. I attended key business stakeholder meetings, increasing my understanding of UK PS and my presentation skills. I identified trends and created visual representations (waterfall charts) of the revenue plan for quarterly budget growth.
My second core responsibility was owning the OJEU/procurement process for IBM UK PS. I was the main contact point between IBM and clients during the tendering process so, set up meetings on behalf of clients and submitted bids for work. I used agile tools (Trello) to track bid progression and learnt that work with PS clients is usually procured via Government frameworks. These provide fair, pre-agreed Ts&Cs to allow suppliers an equal chance of winning work. A percentage of each invoice associated to contracts procured via a Government framework must be paid to the Cabinet Office within a monthly management fee.
My third key task was processing/submitting these fees every month - a lengthy process, involving collecting data from all the brands regarding the invoices for all work procured via frameworks. This gave me a view of the whole of IBM through a PS lens. I additionally worked alongside business controls/legal to complete the 2020 self-audits for each framework. This allowed me to develop a relationship with UK Government contacts.
Finally, I joined the HowTo Community in the Careers Corner. This intern group provides guidance on topics like career development. My favourite HowTo project was leading 1-2-1 sessions, coaching people on improving their LinkedIn presence.

Yes. I owned many processes entirely by myself after having my first 6 months of supported training. I also had flexibility and freedom to join different projects and take on leadership if I desired. For example: I led 45-minute one-to-one coaching sessions with 11 different internal IBMer ‘clients’ to enhance their LinkedIn presence. I prepared in advance of each session by looking at the profile and marking areas for potential improvement. I started by building rapport – participants were global, so it was insightful to hear their stories! I asked them about their career goals to tailor the rest of the session. It’s important to understand what they hoped to gain before starting so that I could meet expectations. I discussed each profile section and provided personalised tips based on their past and intentions for the future

I showed flexibility working on the tendering process. I became the single contact for PS tenders within IBM UK (previously supported by 3 employees), monitoring 60+ client portals. I provided education to bid teams and submitted 3-4 bids per week across multiple clients. Submissions have tight deadlines, requiring flexibility right up to the final minutes!
I completed my whole placement from home. Having never worked a corporate job before, it was challenging to not meet my co-workers. However, I realised that this increased mobility – I could virtually shadow teams from all over the busines. I loved this, notably assisting Stuart Martin (Client Partner) with creating some slides for the 2021 Talent & Transformation playbook.

I had a handover period over 1 month where the previous intern worked with me daily and showed me exactly how to complete the role. I also had a task manager who I met with at least twice a week throughout my placement to support me.
The intern foundation team were also very supportive - I had a specific foundation manager that I could go to for any questions I needed. I I had a support bubble of other interns too.

Very welcoming and supportive, especially considering my placement was virtual for my whole year. Team was friendly and I felt encouraged and appreciated at work. I was always supported to pursue work in my area of interest as well as completing my daily tasks. I am yet to meet an unhelpful IBMer! They are very good at communication as well, instant messaging service and video calls so I never felt lost or confused about the work I was doing

I really enjoyed my experience. I felt my confidence grow and I feel that I have learnt things that I can apply to my future career path. I have learnt to stop doubting myself and my abilities in a professional environment. I enjoyed myself so much that I even applied back to IBM for a potential graduate job in 2022 after my final year of university is finished. I was not initially interested in a career in IT before this year!

Yes