Marketing Assistant Review

3M was a fantastic place to begin my career and I really enjoyed my placement year at the firm. My role as Marketing Assistant was great for gaining experience and I was given a lot of responsibility and support on a daily basis. There was a good social element to the placement and I had the opportunity to take part in activities outside of work, such as netball and touch rugby.

From the beginning of the placement, my team made me feel like a valued member of the firm and I was welcomed with open arms. My line manager oversaw my personal development with vigour and went out of his way to ensure I got the most out of the placement. I was given work that actually benefitted the team, which made me feel valued.

I found there to be a lot of support on the placement and from the first days my line manager and other more experienced members of the team were happy to answer any questions and guide me through work. During the first week, my line manager and I constructed a list of goals to guide me through the placement.

On a day-to-day basis, I found myself to be consistently busy. There were quieter periods but I would always use this time to familiarise myself with the more technical elements of the business or network with different colleagues. For the majority of the time, I had project work or team administration to be completing.

Due to the technical elements of 3M, I spent a month or two at the beginning of the placement familiarising myself with the business and therefore, I did not have a large amount of responsibility. However, once I found my feet, I was granted a lot more responsibility and by the end of the placement, I was leading on projects.

I have absolutely developed key skills that will benefit me in my university studies and career beyond. My experience at 3M has undoubtedly developed my communications skills and enhanced my confidence and self determination. I learnt the art of multi-tasking and this will benefit upon my return to my university studies.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere at 3M! Although very profession in its look and feel, there is certainly fun to be had in the office The open-plan spaces ensures that different teams can collaborate and in turn, this creates a great team spirit in the office. Everyone is chatty and I found it easy to strike up conversations with colleagues.

I found the 3M industrial placement programme to be very well organised. There was good communication from the recruiting team prior to the placement and this continued once I had joined. As there are multiple sites across the UK, we had the opportunity to meet with other placement students and this was well organised.

3M invest a great deal of resource into the personal development of interns. Over the duration of the 12 months, we had the opportunity to attend a variety of different training days, which were very beneficial to personal development. Furthermore, I found individual line managers to be well invested in the personal development of their interns.

Good prospects

As there was a relatively large group of interns based in the office (there was around 20 based at my office), there was a good social scene. We would often have lunch together and turn to each other for any work-related problems that we might be having. There was a nice bond amongst us. Additionally, we would occasionally go for drinks together after work.

Reasonably expensive due to close proximity to London.

I was based in Bracknell and I did not find the nightlife to be particularly great, although there were a few nice pubs and restaurants near the office. Apart from that, there is not a lot going on, however, Bracknell is in easy reach of Reading and London, where the night life is a lot better!

Lots of opportunities!