CRM Manager Placement Year Intern Review

I was a customer relationship management optimisation manager, using digital tools to help maximise the satisfaction of our customers with our service. CRM stands for a set of integrated, data-driven software solutions that improve how you interact and do business with your customers. In this role, I was tasked with using different sources of software (not such Excel but also Alteryx, SQL and Tableau) to draw insights on how to improve our relationship with customers.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my internship, especially when considering the fact that I was straight out of university and plunged into a managerial position. This proved to be a big challenge at first but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed interacting with many different employees and customers, and this helped me to improve as I became more confident when speaking to people. I also enjoyed the responsibility of overseeing other people's learning.

I learnt a lot of skills - not just in Excel but also other data visualisation tools such as SQL, Alteryx and Tableau. On the Excel side of things I learnt how to use more advanced functions such as Power Query and pivot tables. This will help me to stand out as a candidate for future data analysis roles. I also learnt how to improve my soft skills such as public speaking and people management skills.

I received a lot of support during my internship, both from my line manager and other colleagues. A lot of the customers were very helpful as well, since my role was based around their needs. They provided me with a lot of feedback on how the company could perform better, which made my job a lot easier as I was able to feedback to senior figures. I also received a lot of moral support from my coworkers.

The company culture and general atmosphere was great. The energy industry is taking a bit of a beating at the moment, with the current cost of living crisis. However, I found that most of the people at bp, including senior leaders, were genuinely nice to work with. I believe that the industry has gone through a lot of turbulence in recent years and many of the employees are hard working but also cordial towards customers.

I really enjoyed the insight. It was a good chance to explore my options for what I want to do with my career. I was unfortunately not offered a full time position but I still picked up a lot of skills. We were made to feel welcome at all times by all of the people we encountered. This is not surprising as the industry is suffering a hit to its reputation but was nice nonetheless.

Yes