Hi there! My name is Laura and I am currently studying English, as part of the FMC department. I have been unbelievably lucky to have spent my past year working at Samsung Electronics in their European head office, working as brand marketing intern in their Mobile team. I worked across the PR and experiential marketing team, helping to launch the Note8 and S9, along with some huge European mobile tech events.

If I was asked to summarise my experience in short, all I can say is it was the most valuable year of my life so far. I have learnt staggering amounts about the world of work, but also about myself, and I was rewarded with some amazing experiences that I could never have imagined.

Within just my first month on the job, I was flown to Berlin, living a 5* corporate lifestyle, with Barcelona and Rome soon to follow, not to mention working in some of the most incredible London offices I have ever seen.

The main thing that took me by surprise on my placement was the high level of responsibility and trust that I was given, which admittedly at first, was absolutely terrifying, but soon became an honour. I will never forget stumbling through my first ever webinar presentation, pitching an activation to hundreds of colleagues from across our European subsidiaries, words coming out backwards – traumatizing; but weeks later it became just another easy weekly task.

I can now say that I represented Samsung Europe, often singlehandedly, at multiple large scale events, worked very closely alongside the heads of Samsung’s Global marketing team, and ran events for top tier journalists – not to mention all the company secrets I was trusted with. Some top advice would definitely be; fake it till you make it. When I first started, I was also concerned about how easily I would pick things up, as I study English, and had never done any form of marketing before, but I soon learnt that this didn’t matter at all. As long as you have the willingness to learn as you go, you will be absolutely fine.

Alongside all the amazing treats and experiences I had, I also have to be honest, my placement was extremely challenging, and I’d be lying if I said every day was enjoyable – there were many 18 hour days, endless rants to my fellow placement friends, and some real shocks to the system, but I can genuinely say, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I have learnt to become so resilient as a result, and the newfound confidence and work ethic I have gained, along with a corporate understanding, I have been told many times; you can apply anywhere you choose to go with your life.

I met some truly amazing and inspiring people, and it’s helped me to map out my expectations of the world of work for when I leave Uni far, far better, and you always have the support from Uni to give you advice too. Even better than that, the networking opportunities that were opened to me have been amazing, with multiple job offers from the agencies I worked alongside, and also the opportunity to go back to Samsung with their graduate scheme. If I could recommend one thing to do with your university time, it’s DO A YEAR’S PLACEMENT – you will not regret it!