Sales Support Associate Review

I really enjoyed my placement at SAP, and it is definitely a placement I would recommend. The people and atmosphere make it an enjoyable, and exciting place to work. I could not have asked for more out of a placement year in terms of opportunities I have been given, the team I have been working with, the amount I have learnt and the scope for self-development.

I felt extremely valued and appreciated by my colleagues. At no point did I feel like an intern and was not treated any differently from the rest of my colleagues. I was provided with the same opportunities, invited along to any events, and treated with respect throughout my entire placement.

I was given support and guidance by management on several levels. There was support whenever I needed it, or asked for it. Along with that, I was also checked up on and made to feel like there was always someone I could go to for any queries. I also had conversations with my managers about my development, and post-placement plans.

The business of my role varied daily, and weekly. As I was in a sales role, my business depended on which time of the year it was. However, I had set daily tasks every day, along with new things every week to focus on- allowing the ability to learn. It is also partly the intern’s responsibility to ensure they get involved in new things and constantly ask for more work if you are not busy enough, which is something I did. Being in a busy team within a huge, ever-changing company, I was never bored.

I was given a surprising amount of responsibility during placement, and it definitely exceeded all of my expectations of what my daily tasks would entail. I was responsible for providing accurate numbers and updates, and if these were wrong, it was my responsibility. I was also trusted more and more over time, and by the end of my placement, felt as if I was truly valued, and an integral part of my team.

I have found my work ethic since starting placement has increased hugely compared to my work ethic before. My Microsoft Office skills are integral for my degree, and something I struggled with hugely during my first 2 years at university, and now I can use this with confidence. As long as this, the training and support I received is something that I have used to build my network, and increase my chances of finding a graduate job after university. I have also been able to play out some of the theories I learnt about in my degree, in a real life environment, and this has been invaluable for me.

The atmosphere in my office was good. It varied daily, weekly and monthly depending on what was going on in different teams. This was especially relevant in the sales team. However, everyone was friendly, and you were able to meet and interact with new people everyday, which is something that increases your confidence. I looked forward to coming in to work everyday, and enjoyed being in the office environment.

The placement was very well organised. I was given all the information I needed before starting, and was also provided the same amount of information when leaving. There was also a placement team set up within the intern community, which was better for any information to be given at any time on a more casual basis, and worked really well.

I found the opportunities for training and development very well organised. There were specific days set up with external companies for our development, as long as several invitations to different forums, events and meetings. This was a nice addition to daily jobs we had to do, and made the experience more interesting. I also feel as though on a personal level, the daily interactions with so many different people enabled me to develop my communications skills.

I feel as though a future career at SAP is very attractive. There is a huge scope of opportunities, and this is something that is discussed with interns regularly throughout their placements. Along with the graduate schemes, there is also the opportunity to join as a normal employee, and therefore, this means there is a huge range of opportunities.

The social scene among fellow placement students was something I enjoyed the most. This made the transition from student to full time employee easier, and also allowed you to spend time with people closer to your age range, who you have more in common with. Along with this, I was always invited to join my colleagues in any social events and became friends with my team also.

I chose to live at home and commute to work everyday. This was around an hours drive each way, and spent about £40 on travel a week. However, this varied as I was able to work from home certain days. As I live close to London, socialising wasn't too much of a difference for me, and we would seek out some cheaper place if we went out just with the interns.

I worked just outside of London, so the nightlife was great and only a train ride away. There was also the option to stay over at the houses of the interns who decided to live in London, away from home. Despite the office not being in Central London, it was easy to get to various different London areas with a good nightlife.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in outside of work activities. These included charity events, personal development events, social events and other events. This broke up the daily routine of office-based jobs, and is something that became really enjoyable through-out the placement, especially towards the end when the daily jobs started to become a bit monotonous.