I chose to take a placement year as I felt it would be a great way to learn more about what I wanted to do as a career without making a long term commitment. I also thought it would present me with an opportunity to take what I learnt in my first two years of studying and apply it to industry for a year and then come away with a different perspective and understanding on marketing when I returned to studying. I couldn’t find any negative aspect to doing a placement year!

During my placement year I worked for Microsoft, in the UK head office in Reading and I was part of the Cloud & Enterprise team as a Product Marketing Manager. This team works in the leading edge in technology and is one of the fastest growing areas in the industry involving strategies and ideas such as Cloud Computing, Big Data and the Internet of Things. Everyone in my team was a Product Marketing Manager and they each owned a product. The products are Microsoft’s B2B technical infrastructure solutions, such as our cloud technology – Microsoft Azure, Security/Mobility – Enterprise Mobility Suite, Data – SQL Server, Server – Windows Server.

My role involved several different projects across all products. For example, I managed the Cloud & Enterprise customer evidence campaign, which entailed working with customers who have had positive experiences with our products and telling their story of how they used it, why they chose it and the benefits it brings their business through case studies, videos, blogs, social content, speaking events etc. Another project that I managed was a connected marketing & sales campaign through webinars. Within this project I managed the creation of content for a series of webinars covering different product areas and industries within my team. The most exciting part of this project was connecting marketing & sales through following up with sales teams and customers to qualify the interest of the customers. I could actually see new customers being brought into the company through my work and even see revenue being generated from my work which was really interesting!

I  had an incredible year. I had the chance to learn from and network with some very intelligent people who gave me fantastic opportunities. Every day there was a new challenge, something new to learn or someone new to meet so it never got boring. I was lucky enough to see first-hand how a company like Microsoft operates in the field in the biggest growing area of the technology. I saw things I was taught at university becoming a reality whilst also learning new marketing strategies, business management skills and also specific technology industry and marketing knowledge.

During my year I also had some very unique opportunities such as going to Seattle and Amsterdam within my first 6 months. I went over to Seattle to join the Global Cloud & Enterprise Summit with my team, where I got the chance to learn about Microsoft’s strategy for the next financial year within our area of the business. When in Amsterdam I presented to the Dutch General Manager about a project myself and a couple other interns were embarking on and towards the end of my year I presented the results of this project to the UK General Manager and members of his leadership team.

I enjoyed being given real responsibility and the opportunity to think for myself the most. At Microsoft there is freedom to network and learn about all parts of the business which is extremely beneficial to the placement students. However, whilst I did all of this I was also encouraged to challenge and push myself in my role. I could take on new work and also develop current processes and projects to generate further value or revenue. Most  of all I enjoyed the culture and attitude at Microsoft that allowed me to jump into the deep end and get stuck in whilst learning so much.