Student profile – Professional Placement Year 

Graduating year: 2026
Course studied: BSc (Hons) Business and Management (Marketing) with PPY

Jess completed a placement at Pfizer.

What is your role at Pfizer?

My role is Global Integrated Media Strategy Undergraduate. I work in the International Media team within the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). 

Why did you choose this company/role?

I knew I wanted to choose a marketing role, as the creativity aspect is a large selling point for me. Media was an intriguing sector within the marketing world that I wanted to gain more experience and knowledge about.

The company was also shortlisted in the top 100 student employers in the UK for 2023-24, and came heavily recommended by past placement students offering a high rating of 4.6/5 stars on Rate My Placement. Pfizer’s core values of Courage, Excellence, Equity and Joy really resonated with me, as my own values aligned quite well.

How did you feel before doing a PPY and how did that evolve throughout the PPY?

Honestly, it was a bit daunting as I had never before gained professional experience in a corporate setting. However, BSU were really supportive throughout the application process, and even after if you secure one. Moving to a new area, with a new 9-5 routine, and meeting new people was scary at first, but I really felt at home the more I got to know other Pfizer placement undergrads and my team.

What have you gained from your PPY?

I would definitely say my confidence levels have increased. Not only with my personal life, but also academic – I feel much more prepared to go into my final year and when the time comes to start applying for graduate jobs. 

My role required me to use Excel very frequently e.g. keeping trackers up to date, creating website traffic metric analysis’s etc. Before the PPY my Excel knowledge was very average, but now I have learnt quite a few skills within the application and am looking forward to utilising them for tracking my uni assignment progress. 

How do you see your PPY helping with your degree and future career?

My PPY at Pfizer has allowed me to master transferable skills such as time management, organisation and networking abilities, as well as hard skills including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint etc. Both of these skills sets will be very useful for my final year when writing my dissertation and hopefully for a future career in marketing. 

What are your future career aspirations?

I don’t have a specific role in mind, however since choosing marketing as my pathway subject within the Business and Management course, it has widened my interest for the industry. I enjoy the creative scope that marketing has to offer, and how it stresses the importance to not only appeal to the consumer, but to fully understand what their needs are that the product/business can offer.