Presales associate Review

I entirely enjoyed my placement with SAP. The technology industry is a very inspiring sector to work in and SAP are market leaders in enterprise software. Being in such an innovative company allowed me to discover exciting new interests for myself. Being a valued part of the driving force which was bringing these innovations to fruition has proved to be a motivating driver in my career.

SAP have had a fantastic placement program in place for 10 years. This has allowed them to identify and develop early talent throughout the business in many different departments. This has meant that all through the organisation people value what the placement students bring to the table as they have had very positive experiences with placement students before. Therefore the work you produce is taken seriously by junior and senior members of staff.

As part of the 2 week on-boarding all placement students are given at the start of their placement, you will be assigned a buddy who acts as a mentor, as well as a manager who you will directly report to. This allows you to start building your network right away as you will always have people who will support you if you have queries. Out of over 70 placement students, I do not know anyone who felt their manager was unapproachable. Managers ensure you are given exposure across different functional areas and make effort to find out where you feel most comfortable and inspired.

My placement year started in July and I joined as a sales associate. With July being the first month of a quarter, it is typically not busy with work. However this is ideal for placement students as team members have more time to spend with you to get to know you. As things approach quarter-end and you are more settled, you should find yourself getting busier. If you are not getting busier, it is very easy to approach management to find out where you can be of assistance, there's always somewhere who could do with an extra pair of hands who will value a placement student with a willingness to learn.

I was given great responsibility during my placement year with SAP. I was given complete ownership of live presentations in front of partners. I would often be given briefs of what managers wanted from you, then you are trusted to drive projects in your own way. You will always have support from managers and other team members, but you have great influence over how you produce your work and the end result. If you are willing, you will be trusted to drive calls and take ownership of important presentations and reports which will have your name on it.

With SAP, I have developed personally and professionally to a greater extent than I could of anticipated before my placement year had started. SAP strike a brilliant balance between responsibility and mentorship. This allows placement students to mature as professionals and develop extremely valuable soft skills such as networking, communication and adaptability. SAP's placement program is a program for early talent and future leaders and this professional development is taken seriously by everyone in the organisation.

During my year with SAP I had the opportunity to be based out of two different offices. I started in the London office, before moving to the Feltham office after a few months. Both offices have a brilliant culture. Providing you are producing what is expected, you are allowed freedom of what times you work, meaning you can grab coffee/take breaks with colleagues at your leisure. This is very important to ensure any workplace stress is kept to a minimum. You will get to develop trusted relationships with colleagues and everybody is friendly.

From the two week on-boarding, it was clear to me that SAP knew what they were doing with placement students. The leadership team have always been very open to feedback, which has allowed them to refine the program to a very high standard. Within different teams, placement students fit in well and are given responsibility. Within the placement student program, there are many different projects and opportunities to get involved in as well as contact points for support specific to placement students.

I was astonished by how much SAP will invest in their placement students. Even though you will only be there for a year, this often does not feel like the case. You will be exposed to so much across different areas and this allows you to learn so much about SAP, the wider ecosystem in which SAP operate and how SAP work with their customers.

SAP take the task of attracting and developing early talent very seriously. The presales and sales academies are incredible opportunities to anyone starting a career in technology. It is competitive to get a place on these programs or to return to SAP as a graduate, but this allows them to identify and retain top talent. Most placement students are keen to come back as SAP is such a great place to work. Even if you are not successful in returning, having the exposure from the placement program will set you up very well for the graduate job market.

Many placement students will live together either in London or in Greater London. There is a free shuttle bus to Feltham station allowing you to get into the other suburbs of Greater London or into London Waterloo very easily. There are often social events happening with placement students and within teams. Everyone is happy to see each other outside of work and this proves extremely valuable in the workplace as there is constant collaboration happening at SAP.

London is not cheap however this is to be expected. Money has never been a major problem for anyone to stop them socialising. You will be paid a salary which allows you to live and socialise within London.

London has nightlife for all tastes. There is something for everyone within the Placement program. During the placement, you will have the opportunity to visit bars all across London if that is your thing.

In the Feltham office, there is a free gym for people everyone to go to. This allows everyone to relax and get a clear head if they need it, as well as providing the opportunity to socialise. There is also other sports clubs as well as reading and music clubs. This allows people to find people with similar interests to them in the workplace and expand their network further.