• The company runs an internships pathway with a central internships portal and global postings, which creates recurring student access rather than one-off team hiring.
• IBM lists named entry-level programmes such as the IBM Associate Program (entry-level consulting) and the IBM Sales Accelerator Program for Europe, which are built for early-career starters rather than experienced hires.
• The company operates an earn-and-learn IBM Apprenticeship Program that is explicitly open to people without a four-year degree in the field, widening access beyond traditional graduate recruiting.

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• The company publishes a step-by-step “application process” page that lays out screening, online assessments, interviews or assessment centres, and decision, which reduces uncertainty for first-time applicants.
• IBM states that candidates can request accommodations during the assessment process via confidential self-identification, and IBM also says hiring managers and talent teams are trained on interviewing best practices and unconscious bias.
• The company sets a “feedback if you ask” expectation after interviews, but IBM also notes that application volume can prevent direct contact for unsuccessful candidates, which can still feel like low closure at scale.

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• The company positions the IBM Sales Accelerator Program as structured early-career training with mentorship and a defined career path, which is more supportive than “learn by being thrown in.”
• IBM runs the IBM Apprenticeship Program as an earn-and-learn model, which pairs paid work with skill-building for people transitioning into a new field.
• The company provides candidate-facing learning and credential routes through SkillsBuild content linked from IBM Career Guidance, but IBM does not publish a single, early-career onboarding standard that applies consistently across all entry-level roles and business units.

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• The company includes stated pay ranges on at least some public job listings (including internship wage ranges and full-time salary ranges in certain markets), which helps early-career candidates benchmark before investing time in interviews.
• IBM publishes benefits and “work-life” support information through candidate FAQs, but IBM does not consistently show salary ranges on every early-career listing worldwide, so transparency depends heavily on location and the posting channel.
• The company has had public reporting of workforce reductions planned for late 2025, which can add perceived uncertainty for early-career joiners choosing between similarly paid options.

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• The company has public examples of intern-to-full-time journeys in team storytelling (for example, IBM Research profiles describing interns moving into full-time roles), which signals that conversion can happen in practice.
• IBM has had public reporting of job cuts planned in 2025 tied to shifting investment toward higher-margin software, which can affect early-career confidence about team stability and internal mobility in some areas.
• The company does not publish early-career cohort outcomes like internship-to-offer conversion rates, apprentice completion-to-role rates, or typical time-to-promotion ranges, which limits how confidently candidates can plan progression.

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