Since my first semester, I had been asking for information and researching my options and the institutions that students could visit for their internship. I had been very attracted by the foreign offers posted on the document server of the University, at that time mostly from Germany. From my third semester, which I spent at a foreign university as well as the fourth one, I began to carefully examine every offer. In February 2012, I came across an advert on the DS, for a Marketing Assistant position with ŠKODA UK. I signed up immediately by sending my cover letter and CV to Paula Gibson who forwarded the documents to the responsible person in the UK. In the second half of March, I had a phone interview with the Product Manager for the UK market. In April, I found out that I had been selected as the best candidate for the position. Of course I was very happy about this and after receiving the employment contract and other documents, I immediately began to plan my trip across the Channel.
Initially I was very busy with accommodation, because finding something at least slightly affordable for a Czech student is difficult in the UK. If you come from abroad, you have no credit history in the UK – this means no history of payment/non-payment of previous financial commitments. However, almost every property owner requires a credit check, which is a very similar and also lengthy review of the tenant’s solvency. Finally, I got lucky and rented a room in a house of a lady who had previous experience with Czech interns so I no longer had to deal with all the bureaucracy.
My internship took one year. I started to work on the 2nd July 2012. I was introduced to all the colleagues at ŠKODA UK on the first day, which meant approximately 50 people. From the first moment, everyone was nice and open, I felt welcome and a part of a friendly environment. My position was called “Marketing Assistant”, which could suggest that it would be mainly about TV ads and the promotion of products and the entire branding. However, I knew that it was a position in Product Marketing, a branch of Marketing that is responsible for the entire lifecycle of vehicles, from initial negotiations about pricing and specifications to designing special models. The product team consisted of three product managers, each of them was responsible for a specific group of Škoda models. The team also included an administrator, two analysts and me as an assistant/analyst, whose main task was to support all product managers in a wide range of activities. The marketing department also consisted of a communications team that frequently changed staff because the majority of the team members were external.
In my role, I performed a wide range of activities. These were mainly:
- supporting the product team in introducing new models to the market,
- analysis of data from the market environment, creation and regular updates of
reports,
- management of sales systems,
- coordination of processes for launching new models between different departments
and reporting back to Mladá Boleslav (Market Launch Plan, Launch Track),
- collaboration with a design agency on updating and creating pricelists and
brochures,
- maintenance of the web configurator,
- registration of new models with the government agency and more.
Every week/month, I was responsible for renewing and updating complex reports which contained a large amount of data which described the current market situation (sales and trends) and analysed the position of Škoda models compared to the competition. The analysis covered data from the entire UK market, in terms of segments, body versions as well as models with exact specifications. I regularly sent my reports to the product team and top management, which consists of all department heads and the CEO. Some of the reports I used were created by the previous analysts, some of them I created myself in various programming environments, including the SAP systems. The product managers also often gave me various ad hoc assignments, such as preparation of reports on a very specific topic, e.g. creation of special model editions. I frequently created these one-off reports for colleagues from other departments, too.
I had a daily responsibility for inspecting and maintaining the sales systems, for which I also created algorithms after being briefed by product managers and thus creating rules for composing specifications/car prices. My main tasks also included coordination of new model launches using the Launch TRACK and Market Launch Plan systems. I was a part of a Launch Committee, which discussed all the necessary steps and processes that are required for the successful launch of a new model on the market.
Some of my other responsibilities included maintenance of the online configurator so that it contains only the most currents specifications and prices and so that customers can build a car according to their specifications. If there was a change in specifications, prices or model lines, I helped product managers to edit the brochures and price lists and to negotiate any necessary changes with the design agency, so that dealers and customers had the most current information. I followed the same process with the website manager and prepared information for the website.
I also attended very interesting agency product training, which were assigned to me and another intern from communications. ŠKODA UK collaborates with a large number of external companies, among which are world-renowned media and creative agencies in London. These companies sent their employees to visit us, since they were those who work with Škoda and its products on a daily basis. Together with my colleague, we compiled and presented an extensive product presentation, for each training we used different Škoda models from the company fleet and took the agency employees for a trip on a route that we had prepared. A part of these excursions also included visiting Škoda dealerships.
As a product employee, I was always one of the first to know about new cars that Škoda planned to launch on the market. The process of getting acquainted with new products also included very interesting product trainings for employees with many activities.
In our team as well as in the entire company, there was always a pleasant atmosphere and when I did not know how to deal with something, I could ask anybody for help. In ŠKODA UK there are Away Days, when the whole marketing team meets outside of the office. At these events, we planned activities for the long-term and enjoyed many team-building activities as well. The icing on the cake was a weekend trip to Dublin, where we attended a spectacular ceremony and the awards for best dealers of the year.
I really enjoyed my internship in ŠKODA UK, not only in terms of work, but also personally. I had a car for my own usage throughout the year, so I spent my free time travelling across the country. During my stay, I also managed to think about the topic and partially also the structure of my Bachelor Thesis and my supervisor promised me full support in acquiring necessary materials. I learned a lot of new things and acquired many new skills and I think it probably could not be even better. The diverse work in a great team and in a wonderful country is amazing.