Assistant Product Manager, LCV Review

It's been very enjoyable. Product marketing (management) includes some administrative processes but you have a lot of interaction with other departments which makes your work varied and interesting. There were also plenty of opportunities to go to events, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed & the CV Show which widens your understanding of the competitor activity.

Everyone's very supportive and you're not seen as an intern, just another member of staff. People depend on me to be a point of contact for the LCV product marketing team, with both my managers being so busy, my colleagues value my expertise to help them with their LCV-related queries. I've forged working relationships which I hope to maintain for the coming years and hopefully throughout my professional life.

My managers have backed and supported me from day one. I have weekly 1-2-1 meetings with both managers, which ends up being more like a team meeting. We discuss the tasks that need to be done, organizing them in a OneNote sheet which we can all access. They've given me the right level of guidance and support to allow me to take on my own projects which has been very fulfilling.

I was busy on a daily basis but I didn't feel overworked. There's a base amount of work that I did every week which is very manageable but then I had my own projects on top of this which I had to find time for. So while I'd say that I was busy, I never felt that I was not going to be able to meet a deadline, my managers never gave me more than I could handle, aided by them clearly outlining each task that they give to me.

I was given a good amount of responsibility on my placement. I had base administrative duties and projects which had to be completed before anything else was done which allowed for the smooth running of the department. While these tasks were important, managers allowing me to present to customers and other members of staff on various subjects was where I thrived the most on the responsibility that I was given.

Fundamentally, research and presenting skills are the skills that will assist me the most in my degree studies and beyond. Having the opportunity to conduct deep competitor analysis throughout the year allowed me to create comparison documents of great complexity, which our sales people use to sell our LCVs. Further to this, presenting to important people has given me confidence in presenting, a fundamentally important skill in the business world.

The general atmosphere in the office is relaxed and fun, people are always having a laugh with colleagues. Our department was good for this, with my managers having a sharp sense of humour but it wasn't limited to our department, there was a good atmosphere and lots of banter flying around.

It was pretty well put together, the HR department run the show as you'd expect and keep tabs on you throughout the year, offering training sessions to improve specific skills (e.g. excel skills - vital for our job). My position was very well set up, because the job has been around for years now and the duties are very clear.

We had regular product training events where we would go to proving ground to test the new product and learn more details about it. We'd also have financial seminars throughout the year about how to manage your money etc which were useful. We also had legal training on key issues to make sure we weren't getting the company into any trouble.

There's a graduate programme that is available for interns to apply for when they graduate. I think I'll be applying, it's a great place to work with interesting products, good people and a relaxed atmosphere. I could see myself here for a few years definitely. My managers want me to come back as well so fingers crossed.

It wasn't incredible, we all get on well (there's 20 of us) but we found that we all had our separate lives outside of work, with people visiting family, friends and girlfriends/boyfriends on weekends. Unfortunately the social life outside of work didn't emulate the banter that you can find in the workplace. However, if you have your own life outside of work, this probably won't bother you (it didn't bother me).

We're right on the edge of London so the prices aren't cheap but equally it's not going to put you in debt to get a decent room. I live in Uxbridge and pay well within my means for a double bed and an ensuite room. It's more than affordable. If you choose to live in centre of London, you can get the tube to work and save instead of having a car. This would be a bit more expensive to live but a bit cheaper to travel.

London is on the doorstep so it's outstanding, you just jump on a tube into town and you're sorted.

There are opportunities to get involved with football, tag rugby and cricket teams, for both sexes and for all levels of ability. We play against other companies and the teams are usually full of interns or graduates.