Finance Associate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at SAP working as a Finance Associate in the SAP UK Controlling team. The various development opportunities offered by the placement programme with the additional responsibilities made available from my team helped me to develop my skillset significantly. This in addition to the office atmosphere, intern community and strong employee focus was why my placement year at SAP far exceeded my initial expectations.

I felt like a valued member within the UK Finance team. My colleagues offered me responsibilities beyond the original intern role which enabled me to complete a higher level of work. With this, the importance and value of what I was doing gradually increased across the year. My colleagues also recognised this and were highly appreciative for the work I was doing. Towards the end of my placement year, I felt like a valued and respected employee at SAP which was amazing.

SAP offered a great range of support networks for the intern community which initially helped me to settle well within my first corporate job. The placement steering committee continuously communicated with the intern cohort about upcoming SAP events and opportunities which helped me to feel integrated within SAP. I was also assigned a buddy in my team who continuously supported me across the year. My manager also gave great guidance on how I could further develop during my time at SAP with a fortnightly 1:1 meeting.

In my role as a Finance Associate, I was busy most days across the year however this varied depending on SAP’s financial calendar. During quarter-ends and forecast weeks, I was very busy and occasionally had to put in some extra hours, but this was always appreciated my manager. There were also times where there was less work to do, especially towards the end of the year as I had naturally increased my speed in completing some tasks. This allowed me to fill the spare time with opportunities given by the placement programme e.g. I joined the Onboarding committee to help the following intern cohort.

Initially, I started with the usual intern role which was passed over for every intern in the Finance Associate role. Once I felt comfortable completing these core tasks, I was given more responsibility from my team. By the end of my placement year, I was given the responsibility to fully manage certain areas of the business myself which other full-time employees would usually do. I felt incredibly valued and respected with the level of responsibility given to me in my Finance role.

The practical skills I learnt using Microsoft Excel, Outlook, Teams and SAP tools will be beneficial for any future job because these skills will always be used in a corporate workplace. Although these skills and the great training I have received from SAP will help me in a future job, they won’t be as beneficial for studying simply because I wouldn’t use it in my degree. However, in terms of soft skills, my enhanced communication, teamwork and organisational skills from the placement year will definitely help in my degree and any future job.

There was a great office environment in the Feltham office because of two main factors. The first is the amazing facilities SAP offer such as free lunch in the canteen and a subsidised coffee shop. These were great places to unwind and have a break from work along with the pool table which was very popular amongst the interns. The second reason is the office is all open planned which made it easy to communicate with other colleagues and removed the possibility of working completely in silos.

The placement programme offered great support and opportunities for all interns to get involved in additional projects and SAP events. Generally, the placement scheme was well set up for all interns but ultimately, it depended on how well the individual hiring manager and team organised and set up the placement year. My team were amazing in setting up and organising a structure to my placement year. It started off very structured to help guide me and then became more relaxed whereby I was able to tailor the rest of my year to best develop my skillset and make use of SAP’s opportunities.

The Finance team that I worked with invested a lot of time to support my development. During my first few months, they set aside time specifically to help train me and teach me about SAP and the Finance role. Throughout the year, my colleagues continued to provide additional training and allowed me take some of their responsibilities to help further my development beyond the core intern Finance role. The placement programme also offered multiple opportunities for further development outside my role which I utilised by joining the Onboarding Committee.

There isn’t a set graduate scheme which is always something students look for when applying for a placement year but despite this, SAP does offer good employment prospects for some talented and hardworking interns. There were some past interns who went on to work part-time for SAP alongside their final year at university. There were also some past interns who secured a full-time role at SAP after they graduated which shows that SAP do have good employment prospects even though these aren’t in the traditional graduate scheme format.

There was a great vibe amongst other placement students at SAP. We all stayed connected with various social media chats and regularly met up both at work and outside of work. The canteen and pool table were great places for socialising during lunch and after work. I also played football every Monday night with SAP alongside many other interns. Thursday was the designated social night where we usually went into Clapham or Richmond for some drinks which added a great social scene amongst the intern community.

I commuted from home, so I didn’t have additional costs of living out. This saved a lot of money but at the same time, I still paid for travel and my commute was 1.5 hours each way which was far longer than others who relocated. In terms of the social aspect, there weren’t a lot of opportunities within Feltham but those who decided to relocate were able to meet up easily and attend local events like Rugby at Twickenham or go for drinks in Clapham which were reasonably priced.

The nightlife surrounding Feltham isn’t the best so most of the interns usually took a short train journey to Clapham Junction or Richmond for drinks. For special occasions such as someone’s 21st birthday, we would travel into central London for a night out. So overall, Feltham isn’t ideal for night life but there are some great places not too far away.

Outside of work, SAP hosted Monday night football sessions which I attended. This was a great way to meet other SAP employees and enjoy playing football together. In addition, SAP offered all interns the chance to help out at SAP hosted events or partner events. This was a great opportunity to network and find out more about SAP and its partners.