Marketing Assistant Review

An amazing company that really lives into its Credo and provides care for their employees. I experienced a variety of the company benefits as a student placement such as reimbursements for gym memberships to encourage a healthy workforce and awards in recognition of work I'd produced. Additionally, there is huge emphasis on diversity and inclusivity throughout the organisation which is demonstrated through their ERG groups (Bame, Open & Out, WLI and ADA Mental Health Diplomat groups).

On the whole most colleagues are appreciative of the work that you produce for them. There is alot of importance put on making you feel like a J&J employee rather than just a 'student placement'. Additionally, by most colleagues you will be rewarded for your work if produced to a high quality through rewards schemes such as Inspire Awards, and it is evident there is a fast progression if you were there as a full time employee rather than being there for a year.

The managers at the organisation were good and most managers encouraged progression and rewards / recognition for the work you produced, however different managers vary in their management styles. There is always the possibility to raise concerns above management if you don't feel comfortable speaking to that particular person so you are never alone. There is structured guidance to all managers for example having quarterly meetings to set your student goals and objectives that they had to achieve to encourage progression and provide support.

At the beginning of my placement my manager put emphasis on wanting to make me feel comfortable and not wanting me to feel overwhelmed; the initial phases included product training and system training to gain more of an understanding. However, after a month I was soon given huge amounts of responsibility and was continuously approached by different internal stakeholders wanting me to be involved in key workstreams within the organisation. Depending on seasonality my workload changed as nearer to Christmas time I became much quieter, however if you actively seek more work you will always receive it.

I was given huge amounts of responsibility as a student placement. I project managed on various different projects, upward managed teams of around 12 for some projects and had the opportunity to improve digital efficiencies through the implementation of various softwares. As a student placement I would always encourage you to suggest / implement new and improved ways for you to carry out your job and as a result you will be able to lead on this.

The skills I learnt on paper would not be as applicable to my degree because my role focused mainly on internal marketing to the sales force rather than external marketing to customers. However, I was able to gain a much more holistic approach and well rounded perspective on marketing related activities and this aided in producing really well received projects. Furthermore as a marketeer it is much better to have different skills and have worked in different roles to make you stand out against other candidates and not be specialised in a niche area.

The general atmosphere in the office was great, everyone is super friendly and really welcoming. Additionally J&J will put you into a Facebook chat with the other student placements to make you all feel more comfortable and give you the option to live with one another. This was really helpful as you always knew you had friends in the office who you could go and speak to if you weren't sure how to handle certain situation's at the beginning.

The placement was really well organised all together; the assessment centre was much earlier on in comparison to most other organisations. You are also informed practically straight after the assessment centre whether you have got the role or not. As mentioned they put you into a Facebook group so you can interact and live with other student placements at your office which was really helpful and makes you feel much more comfortable. Once you join the organisation you have an ice breaker session with the rest of the student placements and receive a hand over from the current placements.

The company invests in every student placement that joins them by offering continuous training and development. They offer mandatory online training to all employees concerning aspects such as HCC compliance in the medical devices sector and during COVID-19 all employees had to go through rigorous training. Most roles offer product training when you join and it is suggested that you attend them when the sales teams are receiving training to remind yourself of each product.

Future employment aspects within the firm are very appealing however it would be in a sector that carries out external marketing to customers / consumers rather than continuing to drive internal communications. The company benefits play a significant role in wanting to come back to the organisation and the development, progression and support that they also offer employees. J&J is most definitely one of the best corporate organisations I have worked for and they really do care for their employees.

There was a good social scene amongst student placements as we were all put together into a facebook group where we could connect with one another. Additionally I lived with 5 other student placements who were at my site and this was amazing as I became really good friends with them and we could all explore the city together. The social scene with colleagues depended on your team but there would often be birthday meals, leaving meals and Christmas parties / meals to celebrate.

I lived in Leeds which is fairly expensive for an area up north. The house we rented was in Hyde Park which was really expensive considering the area. If you were working and wanting to rent in Leeds I would suggest living in somewhere like Headingly as its still a student area but it is a much nicer area. In comparison to down south it isn't expensive and the wage you get at J&J covers most of it.

The nightlife was really good. There is something called 'The Otley Run' in Headingly where there are 16 pubs and you have a pint in each of them whilst being in fancy dress. It is often done on the weekend in the day however students do it all of the time. Additionally there are fancies places to go such as Greek Street and Call Lane which have nice bars / restaurants - would really recommend Tattu for some (expensive) but nice food!

There are volunteering activities within work as they give you 5 CSR days for the year. However if you want to do more volunteering outside of work then you can do. I know they also offered a netball team and a football team at J&J. I'm sure there are lots of different teams / groups / activities you could get involved with if you had a google or spoke to current student placements there!