Business Operations Associate

Matthew Pennycott

Economics

Placement (10 Months+)

SAP

Describe your role and what it entails.

My role at SAP was to assist in important business functions, working closely alongside the services sales team with forecasting, leading forecast calls with senior members, assisting Account Executives with their deals creating and analysing revenue data identifying bottlenecks in our forecasts.

What have been your highlights?

At SAP I have had lots of highlights during the 13 months I was there. Some that stood out to me were leading my first presentation to the entire UKI services sales team regarding forecasting and other crucial components to the business functions. To add to this being given responsibilities of leading and hosting numerous important meetings made me feel massively valued over the course of the internship. Finally the networking, the team I worked within were amazing and really let me settle in well in an environment I had never previously worked in. They gave me fantastic insights of the business and let me explore different areas of SAP. Alongside this meeting with the other interns has been fantastic as well everyone was super friendly and we were able to share lots of great memories together.

What have been your challenges?

Over my time I faced different challenges such as organisation, maybe feeling a little out of my depth in some scenarios. But having such a supportive network around me I was able to face these challenges with ease. It was good to get out of my comfort zone in some scenarios as I think this helped speed up the learning processes.

What have you learnt from your experience in the role?

During my time in the role, I learnt lots of valuable experience in a range of different areas. I learnt a lot about working within a corporate environment as well as lots about problem solving and how to go around figuring out issues or ways to improve processes. On a personal level I learnt lots about myself and how I can work effectively in different scenarios. This was important as I faced a range of different experiences during my 13 months, so it was important for me to adapt appropriately.

What advice would you give to a student following in your footsteps?

For future interns I would recommend being curious and exploring as much as you can during your time at SAP as this sort of opportunity at our age is not common. Asking questions will mean you can extract the most knowledge out of the people around you whether this be regarding the company or about future career aspirations. My other advice for new interns is cliché but enjoy yourself. From my experience in the offices everyone is so friendly and willing help out wherever they can, enjoying yourself whilst you are taking part in this amazing internship will mean you will get the most out of your internship experience and you will be able to create so many amazing memories over the course of the 13 months.