Consumer and Market Insights Intern Review

Definitely a place perfect for many. If you're looking for a year out that's going to give you rich experiences and push you to challenge yourself every day then you will really enjoy it at Samsung. It isn't an environment for most though, and I'd suggest heavily researching the company and getting a feel for the company culture.

Interestingly, my team were all very senior in their fields. Whilst this could have led to me feeling out of place, underqualified or undervalued - my team and extended colelagues did a great job at generally respecting my input. The location of the office means that most commute in from London, and because of poor transport links the social interactions with colleagues outside of work could be better but you still grow close working together. Samsung is an incredibly fast moving company (and feels incredibly unoirganised becuse of this at times), but the people really make it work.

Myself and my manager grew extremely close over the year that I spent on placement. As the first intern my team had ever had, there were expected 'teething issues' with formal reporting, visibility of my work, and time management but my manager was approachable, open, and always willing to adapt to my needs.

Depending on which team you are in (and whether you work in the Europe office or a subsidiary) this can depend largely on flagship launches etc. For me, within the Insights team, I never had a day where I could put my feet up. I would occasionally give up weekends and evenings to ensure work got done - but this was never expected of me.

Within the first 4 weeks of my placement I was allowed full access to the in-house bespoke platforms, even just for self-teaching, and was allowed to explore, hypothesise and test consumer behaviour on the website. I was given the opportunity to present to 70+ people at our quarterly meeting where the team would fly in from subsidiaries, on a project that i jointly project managed from scratch. Within the last 6 months of my placement, I was asked to programme manage a consumer panel of 24,000 people across Europe, and manage an agency. Speaking with friends, opportunities like this are incredibly rare whilst on placement and this is perhaps the best element of a placement at Samsung.

Due to the fast past of the company, there is very little time to step back and reflect on what development you need, and have naturally had. For me, there was plentiful in-work training, shadowing and platform training. Whilst useful, it would be nice to have has a little more time to build qualifications or formal soft-skill training. Something that I've been told that the People team are introducing this year.

This can vary enourmously and really just depends on how involved and social you want to be with others around you. Some people keep their heads down, keep themselves to themselves, and work. Put your neck out and build relationships with people though, as it will really help you enjoy work.

There were certainly things that could have been done better (an overlap between present and future interns / grads, frequent catch-ups with the People team, and more role tailored opportunities to develop), however the People team are aware of these and improving the scheme to improve this. Compared to friends placements however, the arrangement was very good and informative.

Fantastic. My team have been wonderful at helping me beyond placement. Providing advice on my CV, helping me build valuable contacts, and just generally giving tips about what to do / not to do to make myself an appealing candidate for any future job (even if not with Samsung). Beyond this, if you successfully complete your placement year, you stand a good chance of being fast-tracked through the grad scheme application process to come back should you choose.

Again, this largely depends on where you live - or how far you are willing to travel. You will find that most grads / interns within your batch of recruitment are eager to socialise outside of work. It just really depends on whether you want to. There were often weekend / weekday evening drinks arranged by our batch.

Surrey is by no means a cheap place to live (especially compared to student housing). I'd advise living in Wimbledon and commuting to the Chertsey office as many do. The cost of living is around the same, however the quality of living is so much better. We opted to live close to the office for convenience, and would really struggle for ways to occupy our evenings.

Woking and Guildford are the nearest places to go out, with Guildford stealing the crown. Guildford's nightlife is almost totally held up by the student population from Surrey University, and so varies depending on term time. You're best to either travel into London for weekend drinks, or visit your uni mates if it's not too far.

Because of the size of Samsung, there were some really good opportunities to experience some once a lifetime things. Agencies and partners will frequently take you out for lunch or dinner, to places you've never heard of. Additionally, the generous work benefits (gym membership etc.) mean that you can keep yourself busy outside of work.