Marketing associate Review

Absolutely had the best time working at MSD - the staff are friendly and so welcoming. They really want to help you learn and are willing to put time into developing your experience with the team. Would encourage anyone to apply for this placement as I really have had a great experience!

I am absoluetly valued by my colegues as part of the team. This has enriched my experience with the company as you don't feel like the 'student', you really do feel like you are all working together on the same projects. I have even been given projects of my own to lead on.

I have a great relationship with my manager, and I have recieved a good balance between responsibility/independance and also support. I feel trusted to do the work I am given to a good standard, and also I feel like I am able to go to my manager/team with any issues.

This really varies - with my role in marketing we spend a lot of time in off site meetings so these days are fairly busy (staying in hotels, socializing in the evenings, full day of meetings). The rest of time time (maybe 25%) is spent in the office completing projects. You really are as busy as you want to be, and can always ask for more projects to get stuck into.

I have been given a huge amount of responsibility during this placement in the way of owning and running projects on my own. I am able to make the big decisions concerning my projects which makes me feel much more valued and trusted by my team.

The skills I have enhanced from this placement vary hugely... From public speaking and strategy planning to office politics and admin. I have had to adjust to a working lifestyle, and so my time managment has hugely improved. I really would encourage anyone to undertake a placement with MSD!

The office is friendly and fun to be in. Everyone gets on and there is a goood atmosphere about. The only negative I would say is that people are usually only in the office 2-3 days per week and so there were days when it was very very quiet - although I did get lots done on these days?!

Pretty well organised - I had my interview, then a day to go and meet my team and see what the office was like. This meant that I wasn't too nervous on my first day. The only thing I would change is maybe to make the handover a little more structured as it was just up to the student before to give a handover.

The company invested in me on a huge sace... They paid for every training course that I was interested in and really supported me through anything. For example, my manager spoke with me about my organizational skills then planned for me to attend a workshop around 'agile ways of working' - really helpful skill to develop!

Very very appealing to me, and I have had discussions with my collueges around coming back to the company after I graduate. There is no confirmed offer of employment following your placement which is a bit of a downer, as they invest a lot of time and money into you.

The head office is currently in a small town and so the social scene is pretty dead in the office as people drive into work etc. HOWEVER the office is planning a move next year (2021) into central London whihc I believe will transform the social scene - this will be a brand new office! There were lots of off-site meetings, which meant that in the evenings the team would go for dinner and drinks etc. This has been one of my favourite parts of the job because you are able to really bond with your team!!

As the office was in a small town, there was very limited socialisation whilst we were in the office, however during offsite meetings there was lots of opportunity to socialise with the team. The cost of this is really minimal. In my experience, the students didn't socialise together very much, there was more socialisation within the team.

The current location of the office is really really terrible for nightlife... Everyone drives into work and there is nothing to do/ nowhere to go to in the evenings. HOWEVER, the office is moving into central London in 2021 and so this will transform the nightlife entirely for the better!

Yes a few, for example I took part in a charity race around the area. But not many at all. I think this could be improved, but there are a lot of issues around complience and regulations within the industry so it is difficult to say how this could be improved.