Marketing Assistant Review

I truly enjoyed my placement with Sony Europe, particularly as I got to experience and perform a broad array of marketing-related tasks, and gained insights into product and marketing strategies as well as way of working of a large multinational corporation. The variety of tasks meant that hardly any two days were ever the same, and while of course some were more exciting than others, it ensured a good mix and plenty of learning opportunities.

I was fortunate to work with a very welcoming and diverse team, every member with their own unique skills and qualities. I felt valued throughout my placement and despite being generally busy, everyone was approachable and happy to help. I also felt a lot of trust from my manager and team, which was a big motivation boost and definitely made a difference!

Great support was given in the form of bi-weekly 1-1s with my line manager, during which we would discuss projects I was working on, if there were any particular aspects I needed advice on, or any other questions in general. Of course, the rest of my team were also very supportive throughout, especially when performing a task for the first time. Also worth highlighting would be my two-week handover with my predecessor at the start of the placement.

Very busy indeed - but I personally much preferred this as it meant I would never get bored. As I was working for multiple people, it was up to me to judge my workload and push back on certain tasks whenever it became too much - with my team being very understanding in those instances. I also think learning which tasks to prioritise is a good skill for the future (and not really taught at uni).

Quite a lot, especially given my team‘s impact on product planning as well as strategic marketing activities! While at the start of the placement my personal responsibility felt a bit limited as instructions were very detailed and provided little room for experimentation or change from the status quo, I was given a lot more freedom and responsibility as the placement progressed. Overall I think it was a good mix of important projects that implied quite a lot of responsibility, and other slightly more manual tasks that still needed to be done for the business to function.

I will take away quite a few new or improved skills from this placement, especially in terms of the way of working in a big multinational company, email & inbox management, multicultural communication, (product) presentations, and overall Excel skills. Most of these skills were developed directly from my (diverse) work. Formal training was further offered in the form development days, however these focused on Sony-specific training more than overall skills development.

The atmosphere in the office was rather quiet, and in the very beginning it even felt a little intimidating. As such, for people in my department but outside my immediate team, it took until the Christmas party (5 months in) for me to get to know them a little better. This is a shame because everyone is really friendly - just maybe a bit busy. I would have liked to see more frequent department or team lunches, or other outside-work activities. The fun room downstairs could do with some more colour / paint / music as it's currently rather dull.

Well organised from Sony HR / my department who were both very helpful and responsive. However, the on boarding process was managed by third party Hays and was a bit tedious.

First of all there were four development days throughout the year, where we got to visit sister companies like Playstation or Pinewood studios. This was fun and it was good to hear about other parts of the business, however as these were rather Sony-focussed, there was only little personal development. In fact, most of the learning took place 'on the job', and I was for example allowed to attend a couple of events / HiFi shows as well as to travel to Germany for some field research - all of which were fantastic opportunities.

There is a graduate scheme and I am aware that some former interns returned as permanent employees.

This will of course vary year-by-year but we had quite an active and friendly intern community. During the week, we would meet for regular lunches, and while we didn't manage to organise many after-work-activities (partly as people lived quite spread out, partly due to scheduling issues), it was always fun when we did :)

Weybridge (and Surrey in general) is extremely expensive, and socialising often requires going further towards London - which then also adds ticket cost since Weybridge is outside the (cheap) London travel zones. If socialising or nightlife is a big concern, it may be worth looking at housing options in South West London on the train line (Surbiton/Wimbledon/Clapham).

There is not much nightlife in Weybridge itself, see above.

Many people joined the gym or the weekly running club. There was a also a coding class during lunch break. Beyond that, I am not aware of any outside-work activities, therefore if they did exist, they were not heavily advertised.