Sales and Marketing Services & Digital Channel Enablement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. The projects I worked on were very interesting, and the team I worked in were very welcoming and supported me whenever I needed it. I also enjoyed the variation of tasks I worked on and meeting lots of new people. I also developed many skills.

I often felt very valued by my colleagues - we had a 'team star of the month' which I was awarded a number of times, and my work was often commended by members inside and outside of my team. I do think occasionally when working hard it can go unnoticed, but I still always felt like a valued member of the team.

I received a great deal of support by my managers, who organised weekly one to one meetings (to discuss projects I'm working on and to voice any concerns I may have), as well as monthly development meetings (to track my progress and see if there is anything else I can do to further my development). I knew I could always ask for help if needed.

At the beginning of my placement I sometimes didn't have enough work to keep me busy, whereas during the second half of my placement I often felt like I had too much to do. While I normally was able to keep on top of it all, I sometimes felt a bit overwhelmed with the workload. I think this difference may have been because of our company restructure we experienced during my placement year.

I was given a large amount of responsibility during my placement year. The first few months were spent learning the processes and gaining an insight into projects, but by 6 months in I had taken over a number of projects and was the single point of contact for several operations. While this level of responsibility was daunting, it helped me to develop many skills.

My degree: as my placement is quite unrelated to my degree, the skills I've learnt this year won't assist me massively in my studies. However, the organisation and time management skills I've developed will definitely help me in balancing university deadlines. Future jobs: I've developed a wide range of skills this year which will help me in future jobs, such as adaptability & prioritisation etc. The trainings I have received will also help me, such as presentation skills.

The people in my office were very welcoming when we first joined, and made us all feel comfortable straight away. My team in particular were very chatty and always having fun and making jokes, which made it a lot more enjoyable when completing the few dull day to day tasks. I definitely enjoyed this more than if I was in a quiet office.

The beginning of the placement felt quite organised, with us having talks from HR and several trainings set up for us. However, as the year went on it didn't feel as if there was much organisation for the undergraduates as a whole, and I don't think there was someone who was in charge of looking after all of the undergraduates. This may be because of the company restructure. Within my team though, my managers were organised and ensured they kept me involved with everything.

The undergraduates in my department received a number of training sessions at the start of the year, including presentation skills, powerpoint skills, problem solving etc. My team also spent a lot of time training and upskilling me, allowing to develop my skills further. I feel they spent a lot of time ensuring I progressed professionally and personally in the year.

Pfizer have a two year graduate scheme which current Pfizer undergraduates can apply for, which consists of a year in marketing and a year in sales. This can also lead to a full time job following the scheme, so future employment prospects are good. However, as there are only 5 spaces for the graduate scheme, the prospects may not be as good as companies with larger graduate schemes.

There is a large number of undergraduates, which makes a good support network. Everyone has made good friends during their placement and so there's always people to socialise with. While the nightlife isn't amazing, we still often go out together on the weekend or after work. However, Pfizer's location sometimes makes it difficult to plan social events after work due to the lack of public transport.

Being in Surrey, the cost of living is quite high. While I live at home this year, I know the other undergraduates have high rent prices. In addition, food and drinks prices in local pubs & restaurants are quite expensive, and so it's hard for other undergraduates to save a lot of money this year.

There are a couple of clubs around the local area, and lots of pubs/bars. However as the placement students all live dotted around the local area, it can be quite a journey to get to the events sometimes. The clubs aren't amazing, but as it's not a long trip into London we've gone out there quite a few times.

There was an opportunity to become a STEM ambassador, which I understand a lot of undergraduates got involved in. We also took part in the Cancer Research 10K with our department, which was a great way to socialise and meet new people. However, I don't feel like there were enough opportunities outside of work.