Marketing Student Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my year working for Janssen, Pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson. The learning experience I have gained from Janssen has been fantastic, with lots of exposure. J&J on the whole are a great employer, with a huge focus on employee health and wellbeing, and so throughout the year I was able to avail of many perks in this regard.

I feel very valued by my colleagues, both within Janssen (my floor in the Dublin Office), and the wider J&J netwrok here in Dublin. From the start they have all been so welcoming and friendly, which really helped me to settle in. Coming to an end of my placement now I have been reminded of the impact that I have made, and the value of my work. Couldn't recommend the Dublin office enough.

I have had great support throughout the year from my manager. Unlike the norm, I do not work on my manager's brand, therefore I do not report to her with work as such. At the beginning I may have struggled with this as it meant I wasn't speaking to her as often. However she always spoke with the other product managers that I worked with so that she was aware of my workload etc. We had weekly/ bi-monthly catch ups and she always followed up promptly with any requests/ questions I had.

At peak times, I was extremely busy on a daily basis. My role gave me responsibility for marketing duties across multiple brands in the company, reporting to multiple product managers, so I always had work to get on with. 95% of the time, I enjoyed this as it meant I was kept occupied, and opened up the scope of learning. During summer months things were quieter naturally.

Majority of the time I had a lot of responsibility on various projects throughout my placement year. This involved taking ownership of certain jobs and liaising solely with designers/ suppliers myself, and building relationships with them. Ultimately on brand specific items that are going to customers the product manager has final say, but a good percentage of the background work is completed by myself.

I believe that the skills I have developed will greatly assist me when I return to university to complete my degree and beyond. From my year in industry I have developed a strong business acumen, and a high level of professionalism, which I think will put me in good stead for when I complete my degree and head back to the working world. I also think it will help the nature in which I will approach my studies.

The general atmosphere in the J&J Dublin office was brilliant. Everyone is so friendly and caring, always looking out for each other, and also up for a laugh- which created a nice, relaxing ambiance. At the beginning, levels of hierarchy were not clear because there is no distinction in interactions- management team would always go out of their way to chat. This made me feel very comfortable in the office, never on edge.

Well organised to a great extent. There are lots of things put in place for the interns, e.g. free social club membership etc., and you are always encouraged to get involved in events being offered- no discrimination at all against students. Roles and responsibilities are clearly set out which made ease of day to day work.

The company invested heavily in my personal development, always offering up jobs and events that I could take on/ go along to, in order to gain a better understanding of the company and the industry. Working across teams, and providing these opportunities meant that I got a taster of all aspects of the business, not just the marketing side.

Future employment prospects within the J&J office are very appealing to me. I have loved my time here, and am upset to have to leave- so definitely would love to return if the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately employment prospects are not definite given the size of the firm, and limited graduate opportunities (1 graduate position, which is currently occupied). However, across other departments within Janssen, there is a very high rate of placement students who returned to take up a permanent post.

The social scene in the office was a little less frequent than perhaps desired- this is largely down to the location of the office, and the age range within the workforce (majority adults with families). When social activities are arranged (say once every 2 months), they were a great success- just lacks the young professional crowd.

Dublin is a very expensive city to live and work in, so personal expenses were high. Despite this, it is most manageable on the salary provided.

In the town itself (outskirts of Dublin- approx. 30 minutes from city centre), there is no nightlife. Hence, after work socialising is more difficult to arrange, and much of the workforce live out of Dublin- with maybe a commute of +1hour.

Yes lots of opportunities for volunteering outside and inside of work, in addition to organised social events.