SME Marketing Assistant Review

Working at SAP has been a very valuable experience, giving me great insight into the software/technology industry, improving my soft and hard skills as well as my general marketing knowledge. Support was fantastic and everyone made me feel like a valued employee rather than just an intern.

I was given lots of responsibility throughout my placement year and was always involved in marketing team activities. The marketing interns were lucky enough to be invited to a company meeting in Barcelona which shows how valued we were, rather than just being seen as an intern.

The support given by my manager was exellent and the guidance and development I received really enhanced my personal and professional development. Working alongside experienced professionals and receiving the support I did really helped me with my own projects and tasks.

The workload I had grew and grew throughout the year, and although I struggled in the beginning with juggling multiple projects, I was more than capable as I gained more experience. I was encouraged to speak up if my workload was getting too intense and if I had any worries, to contact my supervisor. The workload wasn't always consistent as there are certain times of the year where large events or campaigns are occuring, however I was never left with nothing to do.

Within 6 weeks of joining SAP I was already running my own marketing campaigns which shows the level of trust managers had for me. Throughout the year I have gone from a more supportive role to a more active member of the team, managing and co-managing several projects and campaigns. In particular, I was given the responsibility to manage the creation of a new eBrochure for an SAP solution in which I was working alongside the sales team and communicating with Marketing agencies, which improved my communication, delegation and leadership skills.

I have developed a considerable amount of skills whilst working at SAP, many of which will prove invaluable when I come to applying for jobs after university. I was able to put what I learnt from the 1st 2 years of university into practise whilst working at SAP, and I believe my marketing and management skills have greatly developed which has given me a better understanding of the marketing process.This knowledge will also be beneficial when I come to my final year of studies as I'll be better able to relate real-life marketing plans and campaigns with theoretical models.

Despite working at a large, corporate company, the atmosphere in the office is quite relaxed and I found all members of the team friendly and approachable. Colleagues often collaberated on projects and campaigns which improved relationships within the team and even though work comes first, there was plenty of office banter flying around!

My own experience was fantastic, however I do believe with there being 28 of us, from an HR perspective it may have been a little hard for them to correctly manage us all. Some interns didn't have such a great experience as myself so I do think HR need to correctly breif all hiring managers of the responsbilities of managing an intern. Despite this, no-one I spoke to within the intern community had a bad time and on the whole was very good.

There was an absolute wealth of training and development available to all employees at SAP. For example, there is social media training every friday for sales and marketing employees, as well as SMARTIES courses that look to improve soft skills such as presenting and communication.

Unfortunately there is no solid graduate scheme within SAP, therefore other large organisations who do have an established scheme are already more appealing. There were a certain number of jobs made available for interns as our placement year was finishing, however the exact nature of the role was hard to establish.

As there were 28 interns for the 2012/13 scheme, there was plenty of time to socialise with other interns outside of work. We regularly made trips into London and with a lot of the placement students living with each other, regularly held parties where the interns lived!

Obviously living in London comes at a cost, and that certainly told when going out into the city or surrounding areas. My rent + bills was 2/3rds my wage, and therefore didn't have much left over to spend.

SAP's offices are based in Feltham, which is on the outskirts of London. Nightlife around here wasn't great, however we ventured into either central London or Windsor for a night out which was good.

Being a keen football fan myself, I immediately joined the SAP football team and made the Goalkeep jersey my own! An SAP Football kickabout was every wednesday which I got involved with most weeks, and the football team were also lucky enough to get the opportunity to fly out to Germany for the SAP World Cup, which was a fantastic experience and unforgettable weekend!