Business Operations Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at SAP. It is an organisation that provides real roles that interns can really get stuck into and take responsibility for. The atmosphere is friendly where no question is a stupid one and colleagues are always on hand to provide support and offer their guidance on your development. The intern community was tight knit with several socials throughout the year to offer more of a work/life balance.

I definitely felt valued by my employees. I had a real role with real responsibilities which made me feel like I was really impacting on the organisation. Hard work was recognised in the form of SAP awards such as the "Instant Hero" award.

I was assigned a "buddy" during my year at SAP and she was very supportive. We had regular reviews where I was able to discuss my development and anything I wanted to improve on or experience during my time at SAP.

SAP's business cycle is quarterly based so this did impact on how busy I was. It was always much busier towards the end and start of quarters and then it can be quite quiet in between particularly over the summer when people take holiday. How proactive you are will definitely impact how busy you are. If you choose to hide behind your desk then the workflow will be slow however if you get out there and make yourself known within the organisation then people will come to you for assistance.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my time at SAP. There was a time when a permananent employee left and I was covering their role until a replacement was found. If you aren't in to do your role then you need to find someone to cover for you because you are given real tasks that need to completed on time.

The skills I have gained here are second to none. The business acumen and professionalism that I have gained during my year at SAP I will take with me. They are skills you cannot learn at university and they are skills that will make you stand out when competing for graduate roles. When I go back to university I will be able to apply the theory I am being taught to real life business situations. The time management skills and structure of the business environment will help me in my final year to prepare for exams and coursework.

SAP is a fairly corporate environment but they stil make time for fun. The interns definitely liven the place up! There is a friendly and open atmosphere in the office where everyone works together and helps each other out.

The programme is run by a team of interns and it is very well run. There was a full one month handover with the previous interns so you are given lots of support when you start.

In terms of formalised training we weren't really given much opportunity to partake in this. However, we were given lots of guidance and help by our line managers and buddys.

SAP don't currently have a formal graduate programme in place however they are piloting one this year by offering 4 permananent graduate positions. This is still in the early stages and definitely needs time to develop. Whilst there may not be definite graduate opportunities with SAP having SAP on your CV will definitely make you stand out and increase your chances of gaining a graduate role elsewhere.

The intern community organised several social events such as nights out in London and comedy nights. It is down to the interns themseleves to decide how often they want to arrange socials. SAP put on "Club SAP" socials once a quarter which is a good opportunity to network with employees. I also had the opportunity to go to Wimbledon which was fanatastic.

SAP's office is in Feltham which is about half an hour away from Central London so depending on where you live will depend how much you spend on living and socialising. Obviously the closer you live to Central London the more expensive it is. Most of the interns lived around the Staines/Egham area which was manageable in terms of living and socialising costs.

The nightlife around SAP's office wasn't great. However, surrounding areas such as Windsor, Richmond and Central London were easily accessible and there was plenty to do there.

Activities at SAP are set up by employees so you can set up anything you want to. They currently have a football team and a running club.