Project Controlling Assistant Review

SAP is a fantastic company to work for. The intern programme is improving year on year, offering more and more students the opportunity to experience a real working environment within a successful organisation.

Within my role in controlling I felt like a valued member of the team. I did not feel that I was treated any differently for being an intern and I could turn to my team members for their support at all times.

My manager was very attentive, despite having a very busy schedule. When I first joined SAP he eased me into my role, gradually teaching me new skills until eventually he could hand over the responsibility to me to have ownership of. If I was ever unsure on how to do something I could always ask my manager or the rest of the team for support.

After a few months I had a variety of responsibilities that would keep me busy every day. At times, I would have too much to do but this is the nature of the financial calendar whereby month and quarter end are extremely busy times as we only have a small window to complete and submit our work. Being very busy has required me to develop a variety of important skills such as time and stress management so that I prioritise tasks properly and complete them in a timely manner.

I was given a great deal of responsibility within my role showing that my colleagues trusted me and felt I was capable. There was always someone who could check over my work to confirm that I had done it correctly so the responsibilities I had were not in any way daunting.

I have acquired many new skills that will be transferable into my univeristy studies and future jobs. I now have a much greater understanding of how a multinational corporation operates and the importance of finance within this.

My department was very sociable so there was always a fun buzz in the office, even during busy times. SAP is very fast-paced so there is never a dull moment!

I was the first ever controlling intern so there wasn't already a plan in place when I arrived. However, my team all made time to teach me how things worked and in some ways I think learning in this way can be more beneficial than following someone elses notes. We did have to sort out the majority of things ourselves, for example accommodation, but as adults I think it is important to stand on your own two feet and organise these things with the other placement students.

SAP offer a large number of courses and other learning opportunities for their employees and as interns we got these same benefits. I attended a number of courses and workshops to help develop my skills which were great and useful to mention in my university placement log. We regularly had performance reviews with our managers and discussed future goals that would help make me employable when I am looking for employment when I graduate.

Unfortunately SAP do not have a grad scheme in place yet therefore I will look for similar job roles in different companies when I graduate. SAP does have a budding young professional programme which is something I may look into in the future. Once I have gained more experience in another company I would definitely try to get a job back at SAP if there was a job opening that appealed to me.

The social scene is always as good as you make it and we certainly enjoyed spending time together outside work as an intern group. Everyone got on really well and in a way we were like an SAP family. I also really enjoyed socialising with my team outside of work and this was something we did as often as we could.

I lived near to where the office is based in Feltham in a town called Egham and the rent was quite reasonable at £375/month. There really isn't much to do in the Feltham area so it is quite difficult to socialise. Living so far out from central London means that it's very expensive to stay out late in London so this is not something we did very often.

The nightlife nearby was not really very good but with the right people who should be able to have a good night anywhere. We usually went out in Windsor on a Thursday night, they have a few bars and clubs including Liquid. Other places you can go are Richmond, Kingston and Woking. Egham also has the Royal Holloway's student union, to get in you need your student card and at times good blagging skills so they let you in despite not being a student there.

There are plenty of opportunities for boys to play football, for example after work on a Wesnesday. Finance have a running club on Tuesday nights and everyone is always open to new suggestions to make the working week more fun.