Marketing Co-ordinator Review

I felt like the job offered a real breadth of varied job responsibilties and I had the opportunity to do many different jobs throughout my placement.

I felt really accepted and valued by my work colleaugues, helped by the socials early on in my placement and some later socials that I proactively organised for the whole team. The Christmas Conference was definitely a highlight which provided a perfect opportunity to network and socialise across my whole department and participate in fun team-building activities.

I was given excellent support and guidance from my manager and had weekly catch up meetings to discuss current job tasks and how I was getting on. I was also given the opportunity to work on my own iniative, but if I had any questions, my colleagues were more than happy to help.

Generally I felt I had the perfect balance as I always had something interesting to work on and never felt bored. Understandably it was busier just before major exhibitions and roadshows took place which could be slightly stressful, but was well worth putting in the extra input so everything went smoothly on the day.

I felt I was given real responsibility during my placement, including taking co-ownerhsip of a major exhibition with another placement student, in the absence of our manager.

I felt many of my skills were honed throughout my placement year, with areas such as time management and organisation being particularly improved during my team at 3M.

There was a great atmosphere in the office. The 3M offices are open plan which promotes ease of communication and makes you feel like part of the team.

The initial assessment days were excellent providing the opportunity to meet you manager properly over a meal, in addition to the interviewing process. Once your placement is confirmed 3M offer an induction day which give you the opportunity to meet the other placements students, explore the local area and sort out housing arrangements. There is also a fantastic 2 week handover period where your predecessor student works alongside you for the first fortnight to show you the ropes so you feel comfortably settled in your job role by the time you actually come to start. The only thing lacking is the fact there is not currently a student charity fundraising scheme set in place, which we are trying to implement this year!

Throughout the year, 3M provide training days on topics such as time management and presentation skills. There is also an introduction to the Six Sigma scheme at 3M and the opportunity to receive training in this if applicable to your job role.

I am really impressed with 3M and would definitely consider taking a graduate job role there, should I be given a job offer at the end of my placement.

There was a good social scene among the placement students. During my year there were 21 students and the majority of us socialised a lot, however most of our socials were organised by us so you have to be proactive in organising events as 3M do not really organise this after the first fortnight. However there is a monthly TNDC social amongst the placement students, graduates and younger members of the 3M staff which is always great fun.

It was relatively expensive, however I still had enough money to pay for rent and have enough money left for socialising and seeing plenty of shows in London! In terms of saving, try and keep track of where your money is going as it's easy to get half way through and realise you haven't saved anything!

In Bracknell there are only a few pubs (and an ice skating rink!) I lived in Wokingham so there were plenty of bars, restaurants and 1 club. However its also really close to Reading which provides a good night out and is also within travelling distance to London.

At 3M I was a member of the basketball and tag rugby team (both great fun!!) I also joined the 3M gym that ran classes such as aerobics. I also joined up to a volunteering scheme called STEMNET. Outside of 3M there are lots of opportunities to get involved in too - I joined the British Red Cross and the local Wokingham Hockey Club as well as signing up for the Bracknell Half Marathon.