Business Operations Analyst Review

The placement has been a great insight into the tech industry, the movements that are happening and how a company such as SAP operates to ensure it retains its position as a market leader. SAP is a huge company so being able to see how a large number of different departments operate has provided me a much clearer picture as to where I'd like to go in the future.

Within the placement I have been given a high level of responsibility with a number of people being dependent on the work I produce. It's because of these responsibilities that in return I've been made to feel highly valued and really made to feel like the work I do is valued and of high importance to my colleagues.

Help and support were always provided by my managers whenever it was needed. It was particularly nice that whenever help was needed, I was never made to feel like I was wasting their time, no matter how trivial the question may be. Instead I was always explained the solution in full and any further question I has were answered.

Work here came in peaks and troughs. there would be periods where I'd have a lot on my plate and onus was really on me to efficiently manage my time and ensure tasks were done on time. During the middle of quarters workloads could often be quite low, I would often use this time to go over university work.

A lot of responsibility was given to me, the files I produced and the reports I created were frequently used by the leadership team and were often pivotal to gaining an insight of the company's current status. This responsibility was there from day one which encouraged me to learn and adapt very quickly from the word go.

I don't believe I used many skills that I've developed here will benefit my degree, the role is more business orientated. That being said, the soft skills I have learned will be beneficial to my future career and I believe it will certainly be of huge benefit when searching for roles after my degree.

The general office atmosphere was very friendly and, in general, a very stimulating environment. There is a great deal of goal orientated, focused people here and just being around them motivates you to do well. The friendly atmosphere made life as someone very new to the business a lot more comfortable and certainly aided in my integration into the company.

The placement was well organised, there was a clear structure in the initial few months of what would be expected from us and how our role was influential to the business. It would have been good for this structure to have existed throughout the placement.

The initial training was carried out by the previous intern which was good, however the opportunity to have some training carried out by professionals in what the company does, how it functions would have been useful and itneresting. It was up to the individual really to decide how much they'd learn about the company.

SAP does not have a graduate scheme (something I'd be looking for) outside of the sales academy. I think after spending the year at a large, international company I think I'd like to spend some time working in smaller company where there would be more opportunity to mold the role to my preferences.

With such a large cohort of students being taken on each year there is no shortage of fellow interns to meet, socialise and build relationships with. The network of people I've met during my time here has been one of the biggest take aways I have from my placement and there are a number of people I will certainly remain in contact with in the future.

Living in Kingston was expensive compared to Reading, but no more so than surrounding areas such as Twickenham & Richmond. I thoroughly enjoyed living in Kingston though, it's a great town, however I'll welcome the cheaper rent that comes with moving back to Kingston! Initially I was taken aback by the cost of living in London - drinks, meals.etc - however after a few weeks it's like anything else; you just have to budget for it.

The office is based in Feltham which has no nightlife, however as no one lived in Feltham this was not an issue as nights out either took place in Richmond, Kingston or Central London; all have a good nightlife.

Almost weekly there would be some event taking place outside of the company that'd be open for anyone to attend. I did attend several of these and it was always a good opportunity to meet fellow employees, and do something that was a little bit different to the norm.