Rare Disease Markerting Undergraduate Review

Although challenging at times, I have learnt a great number of skills during my placement year at Pfizer that I will carry with me into my future career. I have also learnt a lot about myself and the business environment. The experience I have had has been invaluable in preparing me for my final university year and graduate opportunities.

I was made to feel part of my team from the beginning with the whole team being very welcoming. As an intern, I was invited to all meetings and really immersed in the culture of the team. I was make to feel that the work I was partaking in was meaningful and crucial to the running of the team.

My managers supported me throughout my year. I sometimes found having a different manager for my projects and overall experience challenging as I felt they could overlap, leaving me unsure who to deal with in situations. I felt comfortable in asking any questions I had to any member of my team

The workload varied throughout the year. At the beginning of the placement year, I was involved in a various projects and attended a few training courses and offsite visits/conferences. Towards the end of the year, this was reduced so I could focus on my main project and university work/CV.

All my projects were mine to own, this allowed me to really embrace the challenges I faced and seek the reward when I overcame these. I enjoyed having the responsibility for my projects as it really made me feel like I was contributing to my wider team and making a difference.

Over the year, I have developed many skills, especially my leadership, teamwork, resilience and constructive thinking skills. I have also received training in technical areas, such as photoshop and Office 365. All of these skills I would not have developed within my year in industry and I believe that they will greatly assist me upon my return to university and beyond.

There is always a general positive atmosphere in the office and also the flexibility of being able to work from home. Although, sometimes the office can be very quiet with most communications happening digitally. My team did spent time together at away days which was really valuable and allowed good connections to be made.

There was no person who lead the placement programme at Pfizer, this meant that there was no point of contact for pastoral care/work issues. I think the programme would definitely benefit from having somebody oversee it. There was also no 'project plans' set out for my year, this would have been useful because I would have been able to see what I was going to be involved in from the start and not have to anticipate it.

I felt that Pfizer invested into its interns at the start of the placement year, when there was more training opportunities available. All the resources that were required for the completion of projects were supplied. Although, sometimes there were areas of interests that I flagged such as the development of my presentation skills that I feel were not developed enough over my year

Having completed my year when the organisation went through a large restructure, I was not interested in future employment opportunities. There is a graduate scheme available but this is only for a sales and marketing role. The year has made me consider careers in other sectors that I may otherwise nto have explored.

There is a large group of us interns on placement and we have a good social life outside of work. We all sit together at lunch time everyday, go on nights out and the pub regularly. London is around 30 mins on the train so we socialise there quite often.

Rent in the local area can be quite expensive (~£500 per month) and the cost of living can be quite high (similar to that of London). The salary does cover you enough to live well and money has not been an issue over the past year. Bills are similar to that as on university.

There is not a big nightlife scene in the area around Pfizer, it is very suburban with small surrounding towns. London is close to the offices (30 mins on the train) so the nightlife is mainly there. There are some pubs and bars in the areas that placement students tend to live in.

No loads of opportunities outside of work with Pfizer, mainly these are organised by the placement students with each other. The big community if placement students tend to stick with each other as they are of a similar age demographic. I have been on a few team meals/nights out over the year.