Communications Assistant Review

Working at SAP has been a great experience thus far - I have been able to work on interesting projects, and use the huge pool of knowledge within the company to aid my learning, while also experiencing a good work-life balance.

There is a growing undergraduate & graduate community at SAP, and they are treated in the exact same way as experienced industry experts. Placement students at SAP are entrusted with much responsibility, and are expected to deliver results, just like their colleagues. The executive board are all very approachable and down-to-earth, and so far I haven't encountered anyone who wasn't willing to give up some time to help me or answer my question/s.

My managers are always ready and available to answer questions, and have been very helpful when I have encountered problems. Because the Communications team is a small one, we are in close an frequent contact, but my managers instill trust in me when they give me tasks/projects. They're never looking over my shoulder by any means, but at the same time expect me to produce excellent work in good time.

I am never without projects to get on with - while there are some tasks I have to do on a regular basis, I do get a lot of ad-hoc requests, and how busy I am is often reflected by busy periods within the company (generally the end of each business quarter). It isn't a constant rush, which is nice, to allow me to catch a breath occasionally, but SAP is a challenging environment, and you have to be prepared to put in extra hours where necessary.

I have been lucky to have been given responsibility to own a number of tasks in such a short space of time while at SAP. I have been made responsible for organising/running the our quarterly company-wide meetings, organising one of the ClubSAP social events, as well as project managing for a marketing project with the other placement students, amongst other projects. SAP offers their placement students much responsibility and autonomy, and my manager has instilled a lot of faith in me by giving me such projects to undertake - something worth grabbing with both hands.

I have put into practice a lot of the theory I have learnt at university in my role at SAP, not least the material I studied in my Marketing and Communications modules. There is a lot to be said for not just theoretical knowledge, but transferable skills, a lot of which I have gained/enhanced at SAP. I have become a lot more organised, direct and get things done quicker since I have been here, and the company has been great in offering training and advice to aid my development.

The cost of living in London is generally expensive, but luckily Feltham is right on the outskirts of West London, so living there or going out in nearby areas will not break the bank. Average rent for a double room in this part of London is typically around £350-400 per month (£90-100 per week)

Feltham is not a great place in terms of socialising, but there are very close surrounding areas such as Twickenham and Richmond, which are much nicer places to go out. Feltham is also 4 national rail stops from Waterloo, which allows for very easy access into central London, while in the other direction, places like Windsor and Reading are also pretty close.

The company puts on social events roughly every month, for employees to go out and socialise, often in places such as Richmond, Windsor or Central London. These events usually come with money behind the bar, and there is a really good social atmosphere within the company. There are also regular football sessions at local 7-a-side pitches, which is always a good laugh, and a fun way to spend Wednesday nights.