European Service Operations Support Review

I truly enjoyed my year with Samsung, working with a range of great professionals. I was lucky to be part of a team where I was valued and where my colleagues trusted my abilities. In addition, I was one of around 30 new students/grads starting at the same time, which allowed us to get to know each other well.

During the whole year, I was valued as any other member of the team and department. During my first weeks, I was helped a lot and as I grew into my role I was treated and valued equally to every one else, and trusted with great responsibilities. Similarly I was expected to deliver results as any other members and received honest and constructive feedback on my work.

During the year I have been supported by the team and my manager. I believe the environment gave me a good balance between support and independence. Due to the extremely fast paced environment, I was often left to solve things myself, but this helped me to become more independent and to trust my own decisions. However, I was always supported when needed.

I was generally very busy, and time management and prioritising is key. As in any other companies there are peaks where it is a bit extreme, but this was a great way to learn how to handle the workload. It can be very difficult to say no to requests, however, by being honest regarding when the person could expect to receive my response, I managed to keep my workload realistic without directly rejecting work.

Already from week 1 I was trusted with valued tasks. As the year went by I received more and more responsibility as I proved my abilities and trustworthiness. Reflecting on my time, a lot of the responsibilities came as a consequence of taking an as much work as possible with a can do attitude, showing that I was willing to work hard.

I developed several skills such as professionalism, cultural understanding, teamwork, time management, Excel skill, etc which will help me going forwards. I also got to realise what type of skills from University that actually helps me in my professional career, and I believe simple skills like Excel, cultural understanding and can-do attitude is key to success.

The placement scheme is well organised. The year starts with a few days of induction with your fellow new starters. Except from a mandatory CSR project, the HR team will not get much involved, however, they are always available if you need their help. They also arrange a small leaving ceremony.

If you do well and work hard, there are endless opportunities for future work within Samsung. You will be allowed to skip most of the recruitment process, and possibly go straight to interviews. Due to the size of the company, there are every opportunity to apply for other roles or other departments, if you want to try something new.

As we were 30 ish people starting at the same time, and also completing the introduction together, we quickly got to know each other. This facilitated for us to use each other as both a support network but also a social network. Many activities was arranged during the year, such as after work beers, top golf, nights out, etc.

There is no nightlife around the office. However, many colleagues lives in the areas towards London ( Clapham, Wimbledon, etc.), which opens up endless opportunities. The closest you get to nightlife is a pub by the train station in Weybridge, where we frequently went for after work beers, as it has easy train connections.

There are some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, such as football. However, it is not that many organised activities. On the other hand, there are endless opportunities due to the social network you get with your fellow students and graduates, which tends to be very open to social activities.