PR and Social Assistant Review

I've thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Sony Professional, and learned lots of valuable skills that I will take into my future career. Placement year has definitely been one of the most eye-opening experiences. I've had lots of opportunities to go to events and see different parts of the business. I've learnt not only a lot about the industry and PR, but I've learnt a lot about myself during these 11 months.

My team were extremely welcoming and always made me feel like part of the team rather than just a student on placement year. They constantly gave me opportunities to work on my own projects and learn. Also, whenever I was working with others internally, they always made me feel like a full-time employee.

My line manager/ rest of my team were always willing to take time out their day to help guide me and explain more about something I was given to work on. Whenever I had a question, they were always there to answer it. They would always give constructive criticism too, which would help me learn as a person.

At the beginning of my placement, my team were very busy with prep for big trade shows and therefore couldn't dedicated much time to providing me work. After these finished work picked up and there would be some days which would be super busy, and then some where I'd have barely anything to do.

Unfortunately I feel working in a corporate company, there is only so much responsibility you can be given as a placement student. I was given responsibility to some extent, where my line manager expected me to meet deadlines which were business critical. My responsibilities changed based on what I was working on.

The skills I have learnt are completely relevant to my degree and will assist me in my final year when needing various case studies. I have been given exposure to different areas of communication, developing my skills in PR, marketing and social media. I will be able to take what I've learnt at Sony and apply to whatever I choose to do in the future.

It was a very corporate environment where lots of people sit at their desks and don't speak for hours. Lots of strip lighting, the Basingstoke office could definitely do with being refurbished. Luckily there was a games room and a chill room which was a great way to socialize and escape from your desk for a bit.

I was given various tasks and project throughout my time at Sony by my management. I felt that structure of the placement year was good. The development/SPY days were a great way to meet up with the interns from the Weybridge office. However the company Sony use for the interns payroll (Hays) was a nightmare to get set up with at the start, constantly messing up payslips.

In terms of training, I just learned on the job and observed the one others were doing things. Online resources were available to me in order to expand my knowledge on the business and solutions. I had a personal one-on-one with my line manager every week to go over what I'm working on and how I could improve. These were very helpful in giving me guidance on how to become a better at my job.

Despite really enjoying my placement, I think I want a fresh challenge. The location is not great, I don't really fancy living in Basingstoke again. HR have given us no guidance on applying for graduate jobs within the company. This is something that could definitely be improved on for future placement years.

The interns in Basingstoke were always up for going to the pub, doing an activity in the week/at weekends. We'd all each lunch together. This has made my time at Sony really enjoyable because you're all in the same boat. We've formed a great friendship group which I hope to keep in contact with when we all part ways.

Basingstoke wasn't too bad in terms of living costs. It's probably cheaper here, than what I pay during uni. There is actually lots of activities to do here too and in surrounding areas. Whilst living in Basingstoke, I've explored all the towns around like Winchester, Salisbury, Reading and London which has been really nice!

The nightlife is shocking, and only had one 'good' club called Fever. However, you grow to kind of love it being in Basingstoke for a year. There's various Wetherspoons and pubs too where the drinks aren't too expensive.

I know that there were lots of sporting things going on outside of work, which I was not part of - but I know my fellow interns enjoyed it. The sports and social committee would host various cinema evenings which were really fun.