IBM Corporate Service Corps — The Final Countdown!

15 days until my IBM Corporate Service Corps team departs for Beijing, China (but who’s counting)?!?

Wondering what IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) is? Each year, IBM selects about 500 employees to implement pro bono projects around the world, serving nongovernmental organizations, small and medium enterprises, cultural institutions, governments, and others. The projects vary across locations, agencies, disciplines, and business challenges, which means every team deployed has a different experience in the program. Each CSC team is comprised of 13–15 IBMers from different parts of the world — talk about a CULTURE JAM!

Requirements for being accepted into the program include at least two years at IBM and having consistently positive performance reviews. Additionally, the application asks about qualities that make you fit for the program, how you will fulfill one of IBM’s core values — “Restlessly Reinvent — our company and ourselves” — and to share a story of a personal or professional challenge you overcame.

It took me about 10 drafts and multiple peer reviews (thanks friends!) but the final application I submitted last year was one I was proud of. When I got the the congratulations email that I was accepted, I felt a jolt of excitement. I also got this slight nervous feeling … I mean I would be leaving my day-to-day job and team for 4 weeks, traveling to another country, working with people from around the world — how could you not be nervous?!

That congratulations e-mail sketches out only a few details. I learned I’d been accepted to the “2018–2019 class” but that I’d have to wait to find out where I was going, who I’d be going with, and what we’d be doing. Waiting my turn, I got more and more excited (and nervous) watching Twitter / Facebook / IBM.com and seeing all the amazing teams that were being deployed. I got the news mid-summer about the assignment and since then I have been on weekly calls with the team and our CSC Mentor discussing what to expect, team dynamics, and the Chinese Culture.

And now, I am less than one month away from getting on a plane to embark on an experience of a lifetime with a team of incredible people! I will continue to write about my experience, sharing what it’s like to consult clients pro bono, work in a country where you don’t know the language (bet there will be a lot of funny stories on this point), and finally collaborate with global IBMers who come from different parts of the organization.

Stay tuned for more posts about the adventure, project, and volunteer work we get into in Beijing!

#CSCCH42 #CSC

Learn more about the program: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/corporateservicecorps/