Marketing Associate Review

I have greatly enjoyed my time at SAP, one of the best choices I made. I have had the opportunity to get deeply involved in digital marketing through managing data analytics, optimising search engine presence and improving paid search on Google. I have also been able to utilise my 70-30 split option to learn more about client success and explore that area further. My manager and team have been extremely supportive throughout my placement year to ensure success for both my personal and professional progression. I highly recommend taking a placement at SAP, a challenging yet extremely rewarding 13 months.

I felt I have been valued by my colleagues. With the onboarding process at the start of placement, I had the chance to meet all of my extended marketing team and understand how their roles intertwine with mine. My opinions are always valued by my team and I am always encouraged to express my thoughts and ideas during meetings.

I had a manager who was incredibly supportive to help me develop both personally and professionally to succeed in my role to the best of my abilities. We started with the basic understanding of SAP as a business and the main products and services they offer. Throughout my placement, I had consistent one to one meetings with my manager to see what my workload was, what my progress was and how I was getting on in general. My manager also ensure that all feedback for my tasks was completely transparent, helping me know exactly how to improve and what I had done well in.

My workload increased overtime throughout my placement as tasks became familiar and as I encountered new challenges. All tasks that I had to do were always relevant, important and challenging in their own right. This was mixed in with plenty of meetings throughout the week to discuss progress and overall SAP direction. Also, working across multiple functions to gain increased exposure allowed for more experience but increased workload. Therefore there was never a dull day when working.

I was given a great deal of responsibility having to manage frequent data analysis to share with the global digital marketing team and assisting upkeep with PPC and SEO tasks. Additionally, I had a responsibility in creating a newsletter to report monthly progress across the global digital marketing team. For all tasks, I was relied upon to create a report (usually in the form of presentations) to a professional standard. Said presentations would then be shown to internal internal teams to show current progress and direction for future improvement.

Studying Business and Marketing Management at university and doing a digital marketing module, I thought digital marketing was limited to a small team. I was surprised how much more there is to it and such a vast team. The skills I have developed while on placement will undoubtably allow me to improve my grades significantly when I go back to university and write my dissertation in marketing (likely digital marketing). For when I graduate, having my knowledge and skills I have developed will greatly help me in my job search in the near future.

The general office atmosphere was strictly open and all employees friendly and approachable. Having a chat or going to speak to anyone in or out of your team was simple and encouraged. Having a free lunch for all employees with other interns and a games room demonstrates the extent to which the company cares about their employees and it truly shows. Everyone tries to do their best to stay positive at all times and will always be down for a chat, be that work or life related.

The overall work placement programme was done well, however there were a few issues. There is a committee called "Steerco" who are in charge of looking after and supporting the interns throughout the year and especially during the onboarding. They also offer occasionally development and skill sessions in the head office. Being based in a different office, it was clear that this was not taken into account and were neglected to an extent.

During my onboarding, I was provided with group development along with other interns to learn more about the company and to undertake specific online training courses. These SAP made training courses can be accessed by all interns at anytime and has an extensive library to complete, earning certificates. We also had to opportunity to do a 70-30 split with 30% of your work time being spent doing work in a different sector or creating a project of your choice. I chose to do mine in client success as it was an area I wanted to expand my knowledge in.

SAP has been a fantastic experience and I would be incredibly happy to return in a graduate role. Unfortunately, the prospects to return in Marketing as a graduate role is very limited mainly due to head count. If I were to return, the likelihood would be in a different department such as sales as they have a higher capacity for headcount.

While there are options for after work activities with colleagues in Maidenhead, the majority of activities are based in London. There are after drink socials on Thursdays that are located mostly in Clapham or Richmond. If you wish to partake in these social events with the other interns, I recommend living in or near London. Within the Maidenhead office, there was a good social scene for the small group of interns, mostly spent during lunches and the occasional Thursday quiz.

I lived in Reading during my placement in and commuted to Maidenhead by train. While not many SAP interns lived in Reading, there were plenty of interns at other companies doing placement also living there. Socialising in Maidenhead was limited as there is not too much to do. There are some pubs and bars that we occasionally went to but limited option overall. For a better social life it is highly recommended to live in London for a better social life or Reading as it is closer to the office.

Maidenhead has a few pubs and bars to go to after work on a Thursday but the options are limited. If you want to have a decent nightlife, Reading is the closest option. But for the best nightlife, I would recommend going to London where most of the other interns will be.

SAP really pushes for each department to sign up for an activity out of work for corporate social responsibility for one day each quarter. I was able to attend three during my placement and it is a great opportunity to meet new team members that you may not have met and get to know familiar faces a lot better. While I wasn't apart of it, there were a few social groups for sports that had a six a side football, running sessions and netball groups.