Events Management Undergraduate Review

Working for Pfizer was a fantastic experience that allowed me to grow professionally and personally. The corporate culture is brilliant and allowed me to clearly see where my role fitted into the company.

I was frequently told I had made a real impact with my placement. I also had a lot of opportunity to work alongside and showcase my work to senior colleagues, which really helped me to develop professionally and ensure I had job recognition.

My supervisor was very easy to get along with and always ensured that I was coping with my work load, giving me clear guidance on any issues I had with tasks.

There were times where my work load was too little or too much, however generally there was a steady flow of work that was easy to manage and plan ahead for. There were also opportunities to assist other colleagues and see a totally different part of the business if things were quiet. For example, with supervisor approval, I was able to spend some days in another department I was interested in to get a real insight into the work they do. There was also a lot of support from my supervisor and colleagues helping out if things got alot busier.

I was given the autonomy I needed to take on my own projects. I was given a lot of guidance with these projects, the successes with them were celebrated and guidance was given for improvements. These projects I purused benefitted me massively for my professional development as they made me realise the future career path I want to pursue. I also loved that I was able to manage a budget and that my team valued my opinion on important decisions.

I feel that I now have a lot of high quality real world examples for interviews and that I really was able to put parts of my studies into practice. I have developed valuable skills around project management, communication and generating partnerships with people and organisations.

There was a good general atmosphere in the open office I worked in. It was sometimes a bit noisey however this was not unmanagable. Generally there was high morale in teams sat together and with departments that worked closely together.

The placement was very well organised. I frequently had access to my manager and soon became acquanited with all other undergradutes at work. A recommendation might be for all undergraduates to have the option of visiting for a handover day if possible. I was forunate enough to have this, but I know other undergradutes may have also benfitted from this too.

Managing a budget and an ensire programme of events allowed me to develop personally significantly. Training was carried out through online assignment, which was sometimes monotonous - more interactive training might be better.

I would love to have the opportunity to come back to Pfizer. However, the graduate scheme they offer in the UK is not really applicable to what I did in my placement. Saying this, I intend to maintain contact with people I worked closely with in my placement year and quite a few colleagues were formerly industrial trainees that went on to find a full time/ contractor role at Pfizer after their degree.

We had monthly meetings for us to all get together at work and cover interesting and useful topics, including a talk from our site head on the industry, advanced CV and interview tips and a christmas party and quiz. The undergradutes also lived close together and everyone got on really well.

This is not the most applicable to myself as I was able to live at home for my placement year.

The nightlife in the immediate area of Ramsgate did not have a brilliant nightlife- however Canterbury is a student city that is a really good night out.

There are lots of beaches and fun things to do in Kent that are not too far away on the weekend like zoos, theme parks and some brilliant towns to see and socialise in. Also London is only 1 hour 30 minutes away by train for a day out, which is just over £20 if booked in advance.