Corporate Finance Industrial Trainee Review

I enjoyed my placement with Pfizer as it provided me with a year of invaluable experience. By being in industry, it allowed me to see how a large multinational such as Pfizer operates locally and globally. By doing a placement year with Pfizer I was able to decide on my future career choice as well as having forged many contacts for the future.

From the first day you are treated as a full-time employee. I was given work that was demanding as well as personally rewarding. With Pfizer, good work is always recognised by your peers and your manager. When working as a team, I was able to work effectively knowing my opinion was considered.

My manager gave me continual support throughout the placement year. When I joined I received a substantial handover period from the previous placement student, to prepare me for the role and to teach me all the processes. Once the placement student left, I have been having one-to-one catch-ups with my manager once a week.

My role had set tasks that needed to be done on a monthly and quarterly basis as well as ad hoc tasks. Once the monthly tasks had been completed, I found myself quite idle. As the placement year went on, I was able to gain more work by continuously asking fellow employees, however it was not enough to keep me busy for most of my time.

For some of my tasks I was given complete responsibility however for others it was quite remedial. Each employee I had carried out ad hoc tasks for had a different management style, some giving me more autonomy than others. Overall I was given a lot of independence, however I would find myself doubting the impact that my work was making in the grand scheme of things.

The training and development that I received will not help me in further studies; however will help me for future jobs. I have greatly developed my excel skills, SAP skills as well as my interpersonal skills that was not taught in university. The reason it will not help me in further studies is because what you learn whilst on a job, will not transfer directly to certain modules at university. However it has enhanced my time management and organisational skills.

The general atmosphere was calm and quiet. This was good because it allowed you to get your work done without any distractions. You were allowed to listen to music via earphones while working as well. Everyone in the office was very friendly, always answering questions and supporting you whenever needed. However, sometimes the office space seemed dead with little excitement.

The overall placement could have been organised better to make sure that the placement student has work to do all of the time. You are told to be proactive and ask for work however as other colleagues are busy, they acknowledge your request, but find it difficult to find time to explain processes and work to you. More set tasks and projects need to be developed in order to utilize the placement student's time effectively, otherwise the role can get quite boring.

On the training and development side, Pfizer invests in technical training such as SAP along with other training such as Six Sigma and 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. The latter two were in depth and very engaging. However the SAP training can prove to be quite tedious as its all computer based simulations which are not very straight forward.

Future prospects with the company are great for other divisions apart from Finance. This is because the team is quite small and no graduate role is available yet for this specific position. In order to work in the finance section, a professional qualification such as CIMA or ACA is required, which Pfizer tend not to invest in for every new starter compared to PWC for example.

There is a good social scene as most of the placements share houses. Students usually go out to clubs, bars and out for dinner together. Also, there are a lot of internal events that allow colleagues to work together for most of the day, followed by activities later in the night that are quite fun and enjoyable.

Cost of living does vary considerably depending on how many people you are living with as well as what area you are in. Pfizer have great shuttle buses that operate free of charge to pick up people from redhill all the way to Guildford. This will allow you to save a fortune on travel. Also, there are incentives for car sharing with other employees.

The nightlife in the area is enjoyable. There are lots of pubs, bars and clubs around. Most placement students live together so house parties are also a source of entertainment. It all depends on which area you live in, as Redhill seems to be the more popular destination amongst the placement students.

Outside of work there are plenty of charitable organisations to work with. This is quite rewarding, and engaging! Pfizer also carry out an annual summer event where all employees are invited to free of charge, where setting up the activities and volunteering have been very enjoyable. It allows you to work with other interns whilst helping the Pfizer community.