Marketing Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. Besides giving me an insight into the tech industry, I managed to develop skills I would not have if I had not taken this opportunity. The environment was very relaxed and there were almost a dozen interns and other "young" employees. Tasks varied, but ultimately were not absurdly boring or useless.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. My team consisted of 5 individuals, 3 of them based in mainland Europe. Despite the distance, we were always in touch. I had acquired knowledge some of my team members had not, meaning they depended on me to a certain extent, making me feel more valuable. I was also responsible for managing EMEA partner communications, responsibility which comes with a feeling of being needed by the company.

My manager was based in France, but distance meant nothing. We were always in touch with each other, and was always receiving feedback and assistance on daily tasks when necessary. I could always contact my manager at any time and would receive an instant reply, which could be escalated into a phone or video call.

I was fairly busy on a daily basis. Certain months and quarters would be considerably busy than others like in any other company. However I had always work to do and tasks to complete. I have had periods where I had to work late, but most of the time I have been reasonably busy.

I was giving a considerate amount of responsibility during my placement. I was responsible for solely manage EMEA communications, including emails, webinars and events. I was the only person in EMEA who had access to sending newsletters and producing webinars. I felt a great deal of responsibility was given to me.

The skills I have developed and the training I have received will certainly assist on future work opportunities. I have learnt and grown a great deal in only 12 months, something I would not have achieved if I had not chosen to undertake a placement year. While some of the skills obtained during the placement cannot be applied to university, they will certainly be applied to beyond my studies.

The general atmosphere in the office was good. Mondays and Tuesdays would be when most employees would come in, as most choose to work from home or even in clients and partners' offices. Office was modern, had an open plan and was bright, in a nice area in Uxbridge, UK.

The placement was not very well organised. Human Resources was supposed to deliver a task for interns to complete, something that never happened. While I had great support from my team, especially manager, HR failed me several times. We were told we would have work reviews on several occasions during the year with HR, but after a couple of months it seemed like they had given up on us.

My team invested a great deal in my personal training and development. My manager allowed the other intern in the team and I to attend partner events and visit their offices. Other than that, the company itself did not go out of its way to provide interns with any kind of training or opportunity to even learn more about the industry or company itself, despite talking about it at the beginning of the placement.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are not appealing. The company does provide a graduate scheme or prioritise ex interns in their recruiting process. While NetApp is considered a big company, in Marketing it is difficult to enter externally, as most people seem to have "always had their job" there.

The social scene amongst placement students and colleagues was good. Most of the interns bonded well, choosing to have lunch together every day and going out for drinks weekly. We have also had the opportunity to train our replacements, which allowed us to have some insight into the future generation of interns of the company.

The cost of living and socialising in the are I worked in were high. NetApp's main office is located in Zone 6. Most interns chose to rent in the area, which was considerably high, even though Brunel University was right next door. Drinks concurred London prices, and nights out were usually in central London due to easy access, so these could not be higher.

The nightlife in the are I worked in was okay/bad. Uxbridge, despite being home to Brunel University, only has one club, I suppose most students travel into London or nearby boroughs on nights out. Uxbridge is full of pubs and eateries, which are kind of okay, and one could probably have an okay night out around. If you ever want a decent club, I would suggest going outside of Uxbridge.

Opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work included sports and volunteering work. There was kind of a football club going on, which happened most Tuesdays I guess. Besides, NetApp has a strong VTO programme, which interns are supposed to manage. The programme allowed me to get involved and work with charities such as Spitalfields City Farm.