2020/08/14

The 5 highlights of my traineeship at IBM iX

Author: Christiane Hahnsch

A group of people against a dark background

Hello, I'm Christiane and I recently completed a traineeship in the editorial team at IBM iX Studio Berlin. The year was particularly exciting for me because it marked the beginning of my career directly after finishing my master's degree. The fact that the second half of my traineeship took place mainly from home due to the pandemic added an extra layer of excitement. Whether I was working from the office or my home office, my year as a trainee was both thrilling and educational. Now, it's time for me to reflect on the highlights of my experience - and I've got five of them to share with you!

Highlight #1: The trainee group and the general culture at IBM iX

An essential aspect of the Trainee@IBM iX programme is that all trainees in a year group start at the same time, allowing us to develop and share ideas collectively. In our case, this concept really worked. From the very beginning, the nine of us from different departments and with varying ages formed a tight-knit group. Whether it was sharing office lunches, celebrating each other’s birthdays, ringing in New Year’s Eve together, or even moving into a shared apartment, we just clicked immediately. Our trainee year brought us incredibly close together, and we were able to overcome the challenges of adjusting to new working life as a team, rather than facing them alone. This was a massive added bonus that perfectly complemented the support and guidance we received from our respective mentors.

Connection among colleagues is very important at IBM iX. In addition to team meetings, I also regularly attended Cluster Weekly, Community Monthly and meetings of my Digital Marketing & Communication department. And Family Night, the monthly streamline format for all 400 employees at IBM iX. These numerous communication formats always kept me informed about what was happening in the agency. Speaking of a boost: the office dogs that roam around the office were a lovely addition to the social environment and regularly brightened up my lunch break before I started working from home. And the fact that IBM iX has a great atmosphere overall became clear to me at the Christmas party with the motto ‘Alice in Wonderland’. This evening is still one of my fondest memories to this day.

Highlight #2: Further training opportunities for all trainees and beyond

The training opportunities for trainees at IBM iX are truly diverse. This category includes both internal and external training courses, IBM badges (badges for successfully completed courses) and the opportunity to get involved in so-called future topics and working groups. This creates opportunities to pursue your own interests, to constantly learn new things and to make a difference within the agency. Equality and sustainability are just two of many topics that you can get involved with at IBM iX. I myself am involved in a working group for digital accessibility, i.e. the barrier-free implementation of websites and apps.

In future topics we deal with topics like artificial intelligence, sustainable design or new trends for content marketing and video production. We try to incorporate these new impulses into our work.

Highlight #3: Practical projects and responsibility from the start

I was lucky that interesting projects came my way right at the start of my traineeship and I was able to support various teams with different tasks. My main area of work was in the Public Cluster, where we support customers in the public sector such as ministries and authorities. There were also projects from other clusters or sectors such as Insurance & Banking or Consumer Products & Services. My scope of work therefore covered a broad spectrum, from informative blog articles to instructions on how to use a design system, to newsletters about beauty products from a supermarket.

Highlight #4: Insights into other disciplines

IBM iX fosters a culture of T-shaped employees, where individuals develop skills that extend beyond their own specialist expertise. During my traineeship, I didn’t just focus on editorial tasks, but also contributed to content strategy, social media, and community management. During the exchange weeks, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of in-house media production, which I got to experience firsthand for six weeks. These experiences have not only given me the ability to work on a diverse range of projects, but also helped me comprehend the connections between the agency’s different specialist areas, allowing me to learn a great deal.

Highlight #5: New working methods and skills

Initially, I was unfamiliar with agile working methods, design thinking techniques, and communication formats. I’d never developed personas or engaged in collaborative brainstorming before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I’m delighted to say that I’ve grown to love these aspects of my job. The collaborative brainstorming, in particular, has been a revelation – I never knew how much I’d enjoy it.

But during my traineeship I not only learned new methods, but also helpful digital tools such as programs and web applications. For example, Mural, a platform on which digital post-its can be stuck together during contactless and remote brainstorming sessions. Or readability index calculators that analyse my text and tell me how complex my sentences are. My colleagues keep helping me discover new tools that revolutionise my work or open my eyes: for example, browser plugins that simulate visual impairments or check a website for accessibility.

My conclusion after one year of traineeship at IBM iX

For me, my trainee year at IBM iX was an incredible and educational experience that was the perfect springboard for starting my career. I’m confident that, even in my junior role, I’ll continue to be tasked with challenging and exciting projects, and I’m excited to learn and grow from them – I don’t anticipate getting bored any time soon! If I could wish for something else, it would be for the pandemic to end soon so that I can see my colleagues and the office dogs regularly for office lunch again.

So, what’s left to say in conclusion? Perhaps just this: if you ever find yourself wondering what a traineeship at IBM iX might be like, I hope my story encourages you to come and experience it for yourself. I can’t guarantee that your journey will be identical to mine, but I can promise that you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of yourself and your field, a network of valuable contacts, and a sense of inspiration. So, take a chance – and who knows, maybe our paths will cross again soon!

More information about your career at IBM iX can be found here.

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