IBM Degree Apprenticeship 2018

Hi guys.

I'm currently a Degree Apprentice at IBM doing Digital and Tech Solutions at Exeter. I started at the beginning of May (today is my 1 monthaversary) but I don't start the actual uni course until September so I'll be seeing some of you guys there.

To give you guys a little bit of info about what to expect you get Mondays off to study during term time and work the rest of the time. Our uni induction starts on the 17th of September and we get a week residential in Exeter. This is ALL YEARS of the IBM cohort as well as other companies so you'll be able to ask people whove been through the process for advice and start to build your network easily. You also get 1 week a term residential at Exeter. We are basically the guinea pigs as I believe everyone else who is currently doing a Degree Apprenticeship from IBM was an internal transfer from another programme - for example a Level 4 role or a post A level gap year. ( I might be wrong on this )

It's really hard to generalise what happens on the work side as it really depends where you end up.

There's also a 2.5 week IBM induction called New2Blue which really helps with getting you settled. Depending on your start date this might be after your uni induction.

If you've got any questions post them in here so that others can see the answer and I'll do my best to answer them be that regarding the uni or work side of things.

Edit: I should say I am not an IBM spokesperson and I could be wrong about certain things. I cannot divulge the questions that were asked at interviews or assessment centre so please dont ask that XD.

Hi, I had my AC around 3 weeks ago, and i passed that and now am in matching stage, did anyone else apply for the degree schemes at Warwick?Also I know it depends on each person but how long were you guys in the matching stage for? Also how were your business interviews?

Hi, I just wanted to ask, as I'm sitting through my a levels now. Are there actually any requirements grades wise to get the apprenticeship do you know? Since I've already been made an offer, even though I don't have my grades yet. Will this offer be retracted if I don't get the required grades?
Also how are you finding work at IBM, is the work/life balance good?

I wasn't in matching stage as I got a Business interview on the day of the AC. I wouldn't stress as it's not unheard of to be in matching for months. Also don't feel pressured to accept the first thing that you get interviewed for. It's very much a 2 way process and you need to see if the role is right for you. Anecdotal evidence - I know someone that had 3 business interviews. Also base location can mean very little. Some people go to their base location literally 3 times during their entire apprenticeship as they are on client sites all the time.

Oh okay, just a little worried because I really want this to go through and for it to be successful for me.

I was just worried about base location because I specifically put that one, not a few like most did on my AC day.

What degree are you doing and how do you find both sides of it?

If you are at clietn sites all week which could be far from your base location, what do you do at weekends? Do IBM expense the hotels and what not during weekends or do you just go home at weekends and if this is far away do IBM expense this say on a Friday night getting home and a Sunday night getting back?

Hi, I’ve just done the work style inventory assessment after the IPAT, just wanted to know the sort of waiting time there might be and what to expect next, I am assuming an assessment centre.

Edit: Just got emailed back about doing the HireVue interview, any tips and ideas for types of questions? Going for the business scheme.

Guys, does anyone know if you can choose the location you want to work at? Because i really don’t want to leave London and I’d much rather study at queen mary. Haven’t applied yet but due to send an application.

Does anyone know roughly what the pass rate of the assessment centre is and what exactly it consists of? (Hursley digital and tech solutions)

My apprenticeship is the Digital and Technology Solutions degree. What are you applying for?

And I actually enjoyed the assessment center. It was very laid back and took about 4.5 hours, but a lot of that was just waiting and chatting to the other candidates and IBM employees. The 2 group exercises are very laid back, as long as everyone communicates and you stick to the time you'll be fine and the pre-prepared presentation also went very well. I'd advise not putting too much on your slides (only the main points) and elaborate more from it (if you're doing a PPT). It shows you know what you're talking about more. I also had one of the "possible business interviews" which took about 45mins. Overall everyone there was very nice and relaxed. The interviews and presentations are more like conversations and you never feel like you're being "assessed" so you should be fine as long as you have done the research!

Just got an invite to an assessment centre myself in Bedfont and was wondering the same thing and found this reply from a previous post:

Cheers, find it a bit confusing though that everyone seems to have different things like presentations, also I only had to pass the IPAT I didn't have any prior interview etc

I had the IPAT then the WSI test follow d by the HireVue video interview before the assessment centre invite, not sure if everyone has different things they have to do.

And that's all for the digital tech solutions degree apprenticeship in hursley? Very strange that I only had the initial application and the test