Finance Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my 14 month Placement in the Finance department at Pfizer. The whole experience has been so useful and insighful and I could not have asked for a better experience for my Placement year.

My colleagues valued me as one of the team. From day 1 I felt the connection within the team and everyone made the effort to ensure that I received a warm welcome. I was given the same responsibilities as the majority of colleagues within the team and added value through suggesting ways of improving ways of working within the department. I would 100% recommend working in the Finance Department of Pfizer if you are looking for a welcoming team - they've been great all year.

Throughout my placement I have received continuous support from both my Manager and Supervisor. I have had weekly 1:1 meeting with my manager and monthly meetings with my supervisor to discuss my progress and also identify target areas. Both my Manager and Supervisor were very approachable and were able to help guide me whenever I felt like I needed any extra support.

My daily activities varied on a monthly basis. Month end week was always a fairly busy week and so was the time of year where the Budget and Forecast submissions were due. Generally workload is very manageable and there are always projects available to work on if you find that you have any extra time to spare throughout the week.

I was given full responsibility. I had the same responsibility as an Analyst within the team and was even used as cover staff when other colleagues were on Annual Leave. This helped me get a feel of exactly what would be expected of me if I were to come back to work at Pfizer as I was already basically working as a full time member of the team. This really helped me realise that I was very able to fit in with the team post Graduation and eased my mind that I would be able to cope with the pressure and workload of the Working World.

My Time Management skills and Communication skills that I have developed this year will be invaluable during my final year at University and beyond. I will be able to apply these skills to both my accademic studies and future careers post Graduation. I have learnt how to effectively communicate with colleagues who are high up in the organisation though emailing and having calls with them weekly which will help with presentations that will be required in my final year at University and also when applying for Graduate Roles.

The atmosphere in the office was great - There is a bond in the department where everyone ensures that you feel part of a team and are extremely approachable whenever you have a question. The office itself is a great place to work and has beaufiful surroundings if you like to go for walks in your lunch breaks.

The placement set up couldn't be faulted. From our arrival on the first day everything was ready for which made the process a lot easier. Laptops and passes were ready and there was no fuss or hassle what so ever in collecting these when we arrived. We had a very insightful introduction to the team and the department on our first day which helped us gain a basis of what to expect with the rest of our tme at Pfizer.

Personal Training and Development is something that you as an individual needs to strive to acheive. Pfizer are here to help with any training and development that you wish to partake however I personally believe that you need to seek it yourself if you really want to acheive as much as possible out of your placement.

Very appealing - I am actively expressing my interest to return post Graduating to Pfizer.

Extremely good social aspects. There are a number of interns working for the company who will be of a similar age to you who are also in a similar situation living away from home and not having many friends near the area. This encourrages the interns to socialise on weekends with one another and to spend lunch times together occasionally.

Rent cost £500 a month and socialising costs were quite often London prices since we are so close the the city centre.

Nightlife was good - there were direct trains into central London that run very frequently.

Yes - My team participated in a number of events such as 10km runs, days out and events throughout the year which meant that we had off-site days.