Commercial Trainee - Marketing Review

My placement year was very enjoyable. The people not only in my team but in the whole business were lovely and there was a great atmosphere. I was involved in a variety of projects and got the chance to focus on areas I enjoyed the most. There was a good social spirit and a chance to get involved in out of work activities such as volunteering and sports teams.

As a placement student you are considered a full time employee of J&J and have the same benefits as all other employees. There is a great team spirit, particularly within marketing, and contribution of work from a placement is considered just as valuable. Recognition schemes are in place, with encore awards and development programmes in place for employees at all levels.

Support by managers was strong with weekly catch ups in place to assist with project progress and work load. 2x 6 month reviews were in place to review skill and competency development and from this analyse project allocation to ensure a wide skill set is developed before placement completion. Managers were very contactable and approachable and happy to cater to specific needs if requested.

Work load varied a lot through out the year and depended on stage of projects, however there was never a time where work load was too low. Some tasks were conducted weekly whilst other roles were more project based and so time management was required to ensure both got completed. If workload felt too much, manager would help prioritize and take off some pressure if needed.

As a placement student you are given a lot of responsibility. Personally, I was given the responsibility for complete projects such as campaign management and key partner relationship management which at first seemed daunting but you really are given the chance to step up and prove key skills. Managers supported you throughout this so you never felt too out of depth.

I developed a wide range of skills applicable for the majority if not all marketing roles. In addition, a wide variety of these skills are transferable beyond marketing roles supported by visibility received of other business functions on placement such as sales, and commercial strategy and planning. Was a good opportunity to see theory learnt in my degree in practice and use this to apply more theory in final year.

The atmosphere in the office was great- very much a work hard play hard culture. There was a very strong brand team spirit however all employees were very sociable and approachable. Activities such as summer festivals and new product launch events were organised which provided an opportunity to socialize with other employees and have some fun!

The overall placement was set up really well with a formal development plan for all placements to ensure that a wide and strong skill set was developed throughout the year. Opportunities were given such as insight days into other business functions and a placement project with other placements across the business provided the chance to present to senior management.

Placements were given a formal development plan jutst like all employees. There were reviewed personally by each manager twice a year and projects were allocated to fill skill gaps. If there was an area that could not be fulfilled by the specific brand team you worked within, managers will find opportunities within other teams to develop such skills and knowledge.

Formal grad scheme appealing with a formal development plan and strong employee benefits. Opportunity to get fast tracked if placement year completed and included chance to transfer to other J&J sections such as Consumer to Pharmaceutical as well as divisions such as Marketing to Sales roles. Location not as strong as perhaps other companies in London.