Motorsport Events Assistant Review

This was my first full time job so I was nervous to be thrust into an office environment of an international corporate company, especially given my diverse working-class background and Porsche's luxury status. However, my team in the Motorsport department were welcoming and friendly, and I feel like I settled into the role well. I really enjoyed having a 9-5 role with a regular schedule, the workload was varied but not too overwhelming, and I have learnt so many useful skills that will provide a solid foundation for my professional future.

I felt like we had a great professional working relationship. Occasionally I felt like an outsider, as this world is quite foreign to me. Also I don't drive or have a huge interest in Motorsport. And being a temporary employee on a 6 month contract, I am not in the same position as my colleagues who are all permanent employees who have been working here for a while and already have an established rapport. Nevertheless, I worked hard and got my tasks completed on time. I felt like that was recognised and the support I provided in events organisation was appreciated. There is some separation between Motorsport and the rest of the Marketing department, my interactions were mostly confined to those within Motorsport, but that does not undermine the value of this internship to any potential candidates, and it was good to work within a close-knit team.

Any time I needed help or struggled, I knew I could rely on my team. My line manager was always very approachable and friendly and generally seemed satisfied with my work performance. I had some personal difficulties which did affect my job performance, however, my team were surprisingly understanding and supportive. I think Porsche has a sufficient level of social awareness and acceptance when it comes to mental health, as they provide mindfulness sessions (virtually) and the EAP line. I had the support if I needed it. In addition, if I needed any guidance, I wasn't afraid to ask.

The first month of my internship was pre-lockdown, I had plenty to do on a daily basis. I was given many ad hoc tasks by my colleagues which kept me busy. If I felt like I had too much to do, then I was comfortable informing my team. It helped that one of my colleagues would give me deadlines so I could effectively organise my workload. However, once the pandemic hit in full force, our events were postponed and I did spend a lot of time twiddling my thumbs working from home. I always asked the team daily if there was anything I could do, but there wasn't much to do until our events started up again in the summer. Luckily, Porsche offers e-learning modules via Skillserve so I had time to take some Microsoft Office courses to brush up on my knowledge, as I wasn't very proficient in Excel. I was grateful for the quiet period during lockdown as it gave me time to reflect on the work I was doing and hopefully it all sunk in better.

As the Motorsport Events Assistant, I was mainly given ad hoc tasks, administrative/data entry, etc. However, I was responsible for raising purchase requisitions and organising the payment of invoices. This led to me becoming very familiar with SAP and Concur, widely used by businesses. I was the first step in the process of making payments to suppliers and keeping our records organised. Therefore, I felt quite essential in the organisation process because if I didn't push those payments through, we'd have no events.

I graduated in July 2019 so this was my first full time role post-graduation. I believe it has greatly assisted me in being the first rung of a long ladder. I have admin experience now, my CV looks a lot better. It has also given me an insight into how a business is run and the level of detail required to organise an event. It is not simple, but not impossible! This insight is invaluable to me as my main goal in life is to start my own mental health charity, thus, experience of business administration and event organisation is essential.

Quite relaxed, but also very focused. It's professional but not in an intimidating way. I feel like I am very productive in the office as the atmosphere is conducive to getting work done. If I needed to talk to someone, I would be greeted with a smile, albeit behind a face mask, as everyone is very friendly. We are all friendly and happy to be here, so as well as relaxed and work-focused, it is a positive atmosphere. And no one has told me off for listening to music through earphones...yet...

Despite the pandemic, very well organised! I was quite lucky I had a month in the office before lockdown/work from home started, which I felt was sufficient time to get trained on the systems and the processes. After 6 months I felt very comfortable in the role. You don't have to hit the ground running, but as long as you get stuck in, you'll be fine. There was also a very useful internship handbook given to me when I started, which I have since updated with comments from my experience for the next intern, and I had a half-day induction where I was shown around the office and introduced to everyone. If you don't feel well-settled, just let someone know and they'll sort it out.

During my time at Porsche, I had access to Skillsserve and I completed a Thomas International Personal Profile Analysis. Skillsserve was a godsend during lockdown for staving off boredom, and I completed courses on Powerpoint, Word and Excel. There are also eBooks available for dealing with difficult people, time management, organising your workload etc. The Thomas International PPA is something I have used in cover letters for other job applications. It described my work behaviours and personality to a T, and is very useful for me being able to adapt to new teams and help them adapt to me.

I think Porsche is a very good company to work for. Not only is the workload varied and interesting, my desk also looks out over the garage so I can take a break and stare at beautiful cars for a couple minutes. Porsche as a brand is highly impressive and they make quality cars with cutting edge technology. It certainly impresses my friends and family, and I enjoy working here, so if my contract was to be extended I would not complain.

I did not start my internship at the same time as the other interns, and most of them are in their university placement year. I did meet some of them but they had already established their friendships. Furthermore, I am slightly isolated from everyone else in the Motorsport team. I probably could have made more of an effort, but COVID-19 kind of hindered any potential progress. In terms of my colleagues, I would happily go for a pint with any of them, but there is an age gap and we are all in very different places in our lives in terms of family, career, living situations etc. It didn't bother me as I prefer to keep my work and social lives separate.

My rent was not much more expensive than my time during uni. I paid £460 a month (got £20 off) to live in the Oxford Road area, all bills included, double bed, everything I need. Would have been good to have more than one bathroom as am sharing with six people...in terms of other costs, my bus pass was £60 a month which is amazing. There was a Lidl very close by and a Tesco Extra too so my grocery costs were decent. I don't drive or own a car so can't advise on that. I found quite a few socialising opportunities in Reading, but these were cancelled due to COVID. Costs were standard for south of England, could be reduced via happy hour/groupon deals.

I didn't get much of a chance to experience it due to COVID, but there was always a decent bar! There are a few clubs in Reading with varying reputations. Also, you can get a train from Reading to London Paddington that takes half an hour, and you can get a train back to Reading as late as 3am. And the buses run 24/7, usually on the hour after midnight. So it is not impossible to have a good time outside of work!

Definitely. I found quite a few poetry groups, I enjoy performing my own writing and I had the opportunity to do that at least once a month. The University of Reading's societies are quite open to other young people, I had the chance to meet and hang out with their LGBTQ+ society before lockdown. There are plenty of gyms around, including a Pure Gym next to Porsche in Calcot. You can also use sites such as Meetup and Facebook to find events/groups, and it is very easy to travel into London. Reading station is one of the best connected stations so that is quite convenient for days out at the weekend.