Trade Marketing Kitchen Intern Review

On a day-to-day basis as Trade Marketing Kitchen Intern, I am responsible for managing the Trade Marketing Inbox where emails are sent in from colleagues from across the entire Kitchen Channel - I respond to queries, requests etc. I also work alongside Krow Agency and One Design Agency to create social media content for our Key Accounts that goes out monthly, this involves creating briefs and liaising back and forth withe agencies until the content is perfect. I also work on creating the bi-monthly Competitor Analysis Report that goes out to the entire channel, detailing the activities - promotions, campaigns and social media activity - of our competitors

Whilst on placement, I have had the opportunity to develop my my existing communication skills through working in an office environment. This has allowed me to strengthen my communication skills in a professional capacity, although comfortable and chatty with people, I have never experienced life in an office and the etiquette, behavior and persona that is required in order to be able to work alongside colleagues in this environment. I further strengthened this skill through taking online courses provided by BSH, to learn how the business operates and the business ideals and mindset, which is a skill transferable to corporate environments I may work in, in the future. I have further strengthened by current excel skills by creating spreadsheets containing data, which has allowed me to become more confident in using the excel tools and navigating the software, which I can take back to university with me and utilise in my final year. My presenting skills have flourished since I have been at BSH, attending the 'Presenting with Impact' course sessions have really helped this. Learning new presenting techniques at these sessions, which I have then been able to practice during my role at Trade Marketing Intern, have left me feeling confident in return to final year at university where I will be presenting a lot. My networking skills, that before I started my placement were not particularly strong, have come into fruition this year whilst at BSH. This is because I have been fortunate enough to attend many large events, such as BBC Countryfile Live 2021, KBB at The NEC 2022 and Benchmarx Inspire 2022, which provided me with the opportunity to chat with my wider BSH colleagues, alongside BSH customers. I have since grown my linkedIn profile, which would not have been possible if I had not attended these events and made connections, nor would I have had such impressive content to post about on the app. Moreover, my networking and experience to post about on LinkedIn has been aided by my intern days out to the Siemens Showroom and accompanying a BDM (Business Development Manager) for the day, experiences I would not have had otherwise.

I have been given a lot of experience over the course of my placement, the biggest being producing the Competitor Analysis Report bi-monthly. I feel that this was the biggest responsibility as so many people within the business rely on it in order to fulfil their jobs. I felt the responsibility to ensure that the report was detailed, covered all the necessary and relevant information and was up to date and on time. As my placement progressed, I still feel this responsibility although the pressure ahs lessened and I feel more confident in my ability to produce the report - given the positive feedback from the readers.

I received a lot of support, through monthly catchups with my manager, to weekly team catchups, where I felt comfortable and able to talk about any worries or ask for help and advice. I have been provided with support on tasks the entire way through, with my team members taking the time to ensure I am fully comfortable with and understanding of the task at hand and have always been there to answer any questions along the way. The support I have received has meant I have felt 100% comfortable at work in the office and remotely too.

The general atmosphere of the office has been welcoming and light hearted, everyone is supportive of each other's workloads and always on hand to help. There is a good balance of work and conversing and I always enjoy coming into the office.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement, not only for the opportunity to work at a company as fantastic as BSH and the opportunities it has presented me with throughout the year, but for the people I have met along the way. I have made great friends in my fellow interns and have enjoyed spending a lot of time with them outside of work and have made definite friends for life.

Yes

To not be nervous as everyone is so inviting and supportive, only wanting to help you improve to the best of your potential in both a professional and personal capacity.