Junior Brand Manager- Regional Oncology Review

A great placement with a great team - I was supported and learnt a huge amount during this placement. The opportunity to travel to a number of countries in Europe means my understanding of the role and the markets has been exponentially increasing through the year. Overall this has been a very enjoyable year.

Dependent on the project and my role within it- some projects were more learning activities and in others I had more management roles. When takin on these roles of responsibility I was able to take on as much as I was comfortable with, and my managers did their best to provide any opportunities I requested. For example I wanted to improve my public speaking and was able to give a presentation to a number of colleagues as part of one of my projects.

My manager was always available if I asked for a meeting however more regular catch ups might have been good. Upon reflection I feel I did not always realise that a catch up was a good idea or remember to put it in the calendar. A standing weekly meeting would have solved his easily, however working in the same place meant she was always available should problems arise.

Mostly I was busy throughout the course of this placement - the level of work fluctuated with the projects I worked on through the year, however in times where there was less work I took the opportunity to gain experience in other areas. Additionally this gave me an opportunity to request small roles in other projects that I was interested in learning more about. The busiest time was Sept-Apr.

Dependent on the project and my role within it. Some projects I took on management roles with lots of responibility-the team are supportive of these roles and the opportunity to take on more responsibility was always encouraged. Through the year I became comfortable with taking on more within my projects, but in more training/learning areas I supported on logistics and complaince whilst being able to attend all meetings. This meant I got a great overview of the projects.

The skills I've learnt have been absolutely invaluable and will be a huge help when starting my career. As a commercial placement the knowledge will probably not contribute much to my final year of chemistry, however the skills I have learnt will all be of huge help for the future.

As part of a regional team I found that team members often travelled and the office could be very quiet at times. However the office block itself is fabulous with great facilities. There was also other placement students within the office so there was a great social environment available at lunch time and also after work.

On the whole the placement was set up well with an initial discussion of the projects and a good variety of areas which would be covered during the year. My only comment would be that perhaps a more defined role within projects instead of a more laid back approach to a the projects would have meant that sometimes I would have been able to make more contributions. However the opportunity to interact with a range of colleagues has been great for learning.

Wherever possible my manager was very open to requests from me to see or learn more. Additionally at the start i the year I was sent in a series of training courses such as "Pharmaceutical Marketing", "Digital Marketing" and a number of other workshops run by colleagues. Towards the end of he year I took a more independent approach as I learnt where my interests lay and found opportunities to follow.

I feel that as a international company with great investment in its employee development, I would be hugely interested in returning to Pfizer in the future. I think that the learnings I have taken and the scope to see so many areas of pharmaceutical industry from just one office is an opportunity too good to miss, however I do have an interest to also learn more about smaller companies in the future.

Before the placement started a Facebook page was set up with all the placement students for the year included. As most of us have relocated to live near to the offices there are always friendly faces around and we often go out together after work. Additionally having such a large number of students means that I have learnt a lot about the areas they are working in on top of my own.

Surrey is a relatively expensive area due to how close it is to London. However living close to the office in Tadworth has meant riding my bike to work has been a great opportunity to save money. Additionally areas like Epsom or Redhill are cheaper towns with some student housing available. All towns have great connections to London. Overall whilst not the cheapest area it's definitely manageable for the year.

Nightlife was limited to the bars and pubs available in Epsom. However the great train lines to Clapham junction, London central and the 24h tube has meant that livelier areas are very accessible. Overall not the best nightlife nearby, but having other students around has meant there is always a social going on, even if you're not in a huge nightclub.

volunteering and charity fun runs are regularly advertised, however I have not looked much into this area as I independently found a hockey club which I joined. In such a huge office with so many (35) students there is plenty to get involved in, though it is not always actively advertised.