Marketing Assistant Review

I have had an excellent time during my time at Danone. I have learnt so much about the marketing industry and the working environment. The culture of the company is fantastic - very chilled and friendly. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a role in marketing.

Very! My colleagues have been really supportive and encouraging throughout my time on placement. I can happily ask anyone within the organisation for help, regardless of their level, and they will help themselves or put you in the direction of someone else that can. Within my own team, despite it being a one-year role, I have been maded to feel like a very valued member of the team.

I have been given much more support than I thought I would have been. My manager ensures that we have weekly catch ups about the weekly demands of my role, as well as a developmental catch up every month to talk through all things other than the role itself (i.e. my future career progression, personal development) etc. I know that I can always go to my manager for help when needed.

Day to day my role is fairly hectic but also very fun. The fast paced nature of marketing ensures that there is a never a dull day! I do have to work very hard (and sometimes slightly longer hours) to ensure the work is done. However, I really enjoy what I am doing so I do not see if as much of an issue!

I feel like I have been given a lot of responsbility whilst on placement, which I have absolutely loved. My manager has ensured that I have a number of projects to 'own' throughout the year, gearing towards the areas of marketing that I am most interested in. She will happily leave me to manage these roles, only intervening when the final input is required or when I need support along the way. I have also had the opportnity to travel abroad to our factories by myself for one of the projects. All excellent experiences!

Despite only just finishing my placement, I can already tell that the skills I have learnt will be very useful for my final year of study. In addition, I have had a lot of training within the different areas of marketing which will really help when apply for grad jobs. For example - in market research training, learning how the supply and packaging process works, workshops in the core marketing competencies etc.

The atmosphere of the office is very chilled. Everyone is generally in a great mood and happy to chat. But at the same time there is still a very hard working ethos. Everyone is encouraged to take regular breaks and work flexibility both in the office and at home.

When I joined Danone, I had a 3 week induction plan created for me outlining all the training and inductions that I would be doing etc. The placement scheme itself was very well organised. You have objectives set at the beginning of the year, which are then the basis of assessment for how you perform throughout the year. These therefore give you clear direction throughout your time on placement.

I have had the opportunity to go to a variety of workshop, talks and training courses in order to extend my knowledge and training within marketing. This has helped me developed some really valuable skills for the future. E.g. all day workshops, away days for personal development and team building, online courses such as Circus Street.

Danone is an excellent company therefore I would be very keen to return if there was a role of interest to me. I am very interested in the PR and events aspect of marketing therefore if there was a role like this, then it would be fantastic! Currently the Sales and Marketing grad scheme is very geared towards more sales roles therefore I will just have to see what happens when applications open :)

We regularly go for drinks and meals as a marketing team which is very fun! We usually stay within the Chiswick area or head into central London. We also try and organise placement / grad drinks when we can which is very fun!!

The cost of living is very high if you live in Chiswick or some of the surrounding areas. If you wanted to save money, it is probably better to live a bit further out. In terms of socialising - the drinks and food prices are fairly standard for London.

There are quite a few nice pubs in the area, however there is a major lack of bars or clubs. If you want to go out properly, you have to travel a bit further out than Chiswick but when you do out go it's very fun. The night tube has made it a lot easier to get into central London, or you can get ubers to places like Clapham and Brixton quite cheaply.

There is a netball team that you can get involved with (all abilities!). There are also a number of work parties and outings throughout the year which are very fun.