Sales Associate Review

It really is what you make of it. The beginning wasn't easy - as you'd expect - because the transition from university to work isn't easy. It was good to get pushed out of my comfort zone of being told what to do to becoming a self starter, creating my own projects, helping and contributing using my unique point of view - which is what the company values most! We are privileged that SAP is keen on letting us run things on our own, making a real impact. The social aspect was great too, there were 78 interns in my cohort so we regularly went on Thursday socials and all lived in close proximity to each other.

It's great that SAP places us with the most senior people in the UK. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to work with people so much more experienced than you - impostor syndrome - but once you get over this, it's pretty cool to be friends with such important people. At first, it can be a bit difficult to shake off the intern stigma - proving you are more valuable than an admin task - but someone has to do them and if you establish strong relationships (which is pretty easy), it can help you in becoming involved in some pretty cool projects.

We have a supervisor that looks out for us no matter what - she is in charge of the placement programme. We have a whatsapp group set up by SAP with all placement students and those heading us up (steerco) which is really useful to use not only for queries but also to interact with the intern community which really feels like a family. Managers always go out of their way to be as helpful as possible. Particularly in sales, I have found that they can get very busy but once you develop a good relationship with them, they're very good at doing what they can to help you learn and progress. I recommend setting up weekly syncs with your managers just to stay in touch and keep the relationship ticking - asking for feedback frequently.

It really depends on what you do and what you get involved in. Myself, I like to get busy and work on projects so I found that I did have some spikes but I really enjoy the fact there is always something that you can do or get involved with. As the placement is so flexible with only a few tasks that are mandatory, workload can almost be under your control. I highly recommend getting stuck in as quick as possible though because that's how you get the best out of such a dynamic placement. December is really busy for example but January is very quiet - it depends what time of year it is in sales.

In sales it is difficult to get thrown straight into the deep-end as handling an account on your own is quite a big deal - particularly if you have no prior experience. It therefore took me a while to be given any real responsibility. I was lucky to be involved in some very important deals in December (everything is crazy in December - in a good way). Then once AEs begun to trust me, I helped design some executive briefings and was even given 2 accounts by an AE to run with myself. That was really fun as I got to be creative and really know what it feels like to be in sales. Also, they are designing an even better program for sales next year which I expect will speed up the process for working on deals on your own.

I am a funny one because my degree is in Sport and Exercise Science so it's nothing to do with my placement at all - but that's what I wanted. I was looking for a year in business, where I could make better use of my soft skills, get pushed out of my comfort zone and develop business acumen. SAP has allowed me to do just that. I am fortunate that I can comfortably graduate next year and feel like I have a lot to talk about experience-wise. SAP also helped me mature. I learnt to take responsibility for my own future, receive and ask for feedback, continuously searching for opportunities of personal growth. This will help me in University next year where I can have a better work ethic. It will also better help me to obtain a grad role and making that transition into the working world a lot smoother as I would've already dipped my toes in.

It is an open plan office which is fab as it's incredibly sociable. The area that I was in is naturally louder as it's sales but other areas can be quieter. It is all orientated around hot desks which is good as it's nice to change atmosphere sometimes - meet new people that you sit next to. Having free lunch downstairs also helps socially as everyone tends to go down together for lunch and have a chat which is a fab getaway. There are also some rooms that are for working on your own if you feel like you need to get away from the hustle and bustle. There are several outside areas and sofa areas as well as a cafe so really a fab atmosphere inside.

With 78 of us, it can't be easy to control! However, it was really well done to be honest. In terms of the first few months: have pre-placement induction in May, two weeks of onboarding, optional and mandatory online training. There are also ongoing projects that you can apply to throughout the year, regular intern catch ups and events planned just for interns. They are also making the sales programme more structured so that we receive more clinical sales training - with our input which is great. You can give continuous feedback and suggestions - which are acted on pretty quickly. It's good to have structure (as i love this) but also know that not everything is set in stone and management are flexible and very open to suggestions - continuously improving the programme.

As explained above, we had 2 weeks in person onboarding as well as an induction in may to get the know the company, people and office. It was also good to receive online training from our very own learning platform, SuccessFactors! It's pretty cool to be working for a company that can train you up using their own tools which are used world leading companies - because they are that good. There are also a range of online training courses available, some on a first come first serve basis. I didn't do many of the optional online training sessions as I learn better by doing and experiencing so I invested in my learning in other ways.

A large number of people do get offered part-time and full-time roles at SAP upon leaving. However, I have found that it's trickier as an intern in sales. SAP offers sales academy which is fantastic but also quite elite and difficult to get into with only 2-3 spaces available in the UK - with applications open externally. It can be quite stressful as a sales intern knowing that it's so difficult to get in - trying to do your best all year with only a few spots upon the end of placement - particularly when you work with all of your best friends and you know they are all also good enough to get into the academy. In other roles, it seems more common to get rehired as it doesn't go through the academy. This is why I have given it an 8 as some people have much better prospects.

Yes, we all lived near central London as interns (Clapham/Richmond area) and so we held socials almost every Thursday to go for cocktails or chill in the sun etc. With 78 interns in the company, it's quite easy to make friends! Also, within teams, we go on regular team socials which are great to get to know everyone over a couple of beers and dinner. It can be cool when breaking the ice in your team to relax and talk about things not relating to work as it makes it easier when working together as you understand eachother better as people. Can't tell you I ever got bored. However, sometimes with so many interns - it can become a bit of a "high school" atmosphere which can make the dynamic difficult. I reckon this is due to the large number of interns which will decrease in coming years so that they can focus better.

Okay so this is a downfall however, London is awesome so it is totally worth it if you can afford it. You get what you pay for. So my house in Clapham Junction was just over 700 pound a month including bills which is significantly more expensive than my university accommodation up north but SAP pays well which makes this much less of an issue. I did claim my student loan and found I had just enough money a month to go out as much as I wanted (pretty much every week). If you aren't careful in London, it can be very easy to spend £100 on a night out which can cause a dent in your funds. The free lunch provided at SAP really helps you out. Also, I used my first loan drop to pay for a yearly pass to work (zone 2-6) which was really useful as I didn't have to think about transport for the rest of the year and could use this on weekends to go to Wimbledon (which is lovely!) etc. This was ~£1600 including student discount though which isn't cheap.

So Feltham isn't great for a night out (can't say I have ever been). However, most of us lived in Clapham junction which is only an 18 minute train ride from Feltham (easy!). I found it great as I was 10 minutes from Waterloo, half an hour from Soho/Shoreditch, 10 minutes from Victoria. London has an amazing nightlife, I would meet my friends from outside work pretty much every weekend and we would mix it up with a fab source of variety. Don't worry, you don't miss out on the student life on placement and you finally have the money to be able to afford it all!

I am lucky I am a footballer so the activity that SAP runs outside of work all year round is something I enjoy - football. Football was every Monday night and it was fun to kickabout with your friends at a small price with the opportunity to go to Germany for an international tournament at the end of placement. We also have a gym with free classes. SAP also offered a choir and guitar lessons but I didn't participate in these as they're not really my thing. There is also a games room where you can play pool and table football. There is something for everybody which is really nice.