Digital Marketing Undergraduate Review

Working at Pfizer has been a great experience. I have been lucky enough to have been given so much more responsibility than expected which has meant that I was able to develop a wide range of skills over the cause of the year. The team have been so welcoming and friendly and the supportive culture has meant that I have never felt overwhelmed or stressed during my time here.

Getting to work across a portfolio of brands meant that I worked with a wide range of colleagues. I always felt valued and appreciated by everyone I worked with throughout my time. There were plenty of opportunities throughout the year for reward and recognition which helps you feel recognised by your colleagues.

I was very lucky to have a manager that I had a great deal of exposure to. We had weekly catch-ups and throughout the week I was able to ask him any questions I had about the role. I was also encouraged to take on tasks that were out of my comfort zone by manager as he was focused on my personal development just as much as the business goals.

The amount of work I had to do definitely varied throughout the year. The first few months were a bit quieter but once I because more confident I was able to take on multiple projects and work on those constantly. I was also extremely busy at some points which was almost a little too overwhelming but overall the balance was good.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of responsibility I was given during my time at Pfizer. Once the team saw that I was capable taking on bigger projects I was then given a lot more responsibility, often leading on big tasks without reporting to anyone in the team. It was a steep learning curve but having that much responsibility definitely enabled me to become confident at the job very quickly.

The industry is slightly further behind in terms of digital marketing than other industries so there are definitely areas that I didn't get much experience in. However on the whole, project management was a very large part of the job and this skill is transferable across all careers so that has definitely equipped me with the skills needed for my degree and beyond.

I was very fortunate in my role to have a large team that worked in the office everyday. Therefore there was always someone around to have a chat with or ask for help. There was also a lot of different teams working in my part of the office which was a great opportunity to get to know a lot of different people.

The onboarding process had a good structure which meant you did feel prepared starting your placement. However as the role is mainly projects based, it is difficult to have a specific structure to the placement. Month to month I was doing very different tasks so it is hard to say what a typical day looks like.

There are a lot of training and development courses to attend during your placement. In my role I was able to attend social media, SEO training, Photoshop and Premiere Pro training. I think if the training courses were more visible it would have been even better as there were probably other opportunities that were missed out on.

There is a graduate scheme at Pfizer but it is quite a specific role which not all undergraduates would be interested in. There are also not a lot of opportunities to come back after you graduate without doing the grad scheme so the future opportunities at Pfizer do appear to be quite limited.

As there are a lot of interns at Pfizer, it is easy to still have a fun social life. Most weekends the interns would go to an event together and amongst the office and at lunch there were plenty of opportunities to catch up with friends. As you all live near each other, and live near London there are loads of social events to get involved in.

The rent is quite high compared to other parts of the country. As we are near London, the cost of socialising is also pretty high.

Most interns lived in Epsom or Redhill and the nightlife at both these towns wasn't great, there are a couple of clubs in Epsom and none in Redhill. However, you are only a train ride from London so it is very easy to go to London for an evening instead, especially if there is a number of you going.

There wasn't really any 'extra-curricular' activities to get involved in. There were football nets which could be used at lunch and a gym but it would have been good to have some other sports available or more activities to get involved in. I think Pfizer could benefit from having a committee style approach.