Placement Year Review at Debenhams

The Role

Role Description

Assisting the buyer through liasing with suppliers to help put a new range together. Following the buying cycle through from initial inspiration and samples to ensuring the stock comes into the business at the correct time.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

It was a fantastic insight to the fashion retail business and I know now this is what I want to do. The job required hard work and sometimes very long hours but it was rewarding knowing you helped get the range into stores and accessible to customers

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The department I was on were very friendly, approachable and always keen to push me and further my development.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The majority of the time I was given specific guidance and support was available from all members of the team. Some were more willing than others to help but generally everyone was very supportive and appreciated my assistance

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

I was often too busy but it is the nature of the industry and I think I was given more responsibilities throughout the year as I could be trusted with certain tasks. It was too much sometimes but everyone works equally as hard so you can't really complain!

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

As a TAB I think I was given a lot of responsibility, initially because we were understaffed and I needed to be covering a lot of basic tasks but once I proved myself the team rewarded me by giving me specific projects to work on so I could develop my own range.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I am very pleased with the skills I have learnt. Mainly non-academic skills such as time management and communication with both colleagues and clients. I do feel though that now I am back at uni I can tell what is applicable in the workplace and what is not as relevant so I'm not focusing on those aspects as much...which could cause problems!

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

There were a few really entertaining characters in the office so it really helped me enjoy work. Getting along with your colleagues definitely helps when you are having a tough day or need cheering up so I think I was very lucky in that respect

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Debenhams were a great company to get a placement with as the scheme was well organised and provided a great opportunity to understand how a head office works. However I was disappointed to not be able to develop my technical skills at all as not enough courses were avvailable and placement students weren't priority

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

The company as a whole did not really invest in placement students very much as courses were not well organised for us. My team often claimed that the courses weren't very useful so prefered to teach me their way intead. This was good to begin with but I realised they were just teaching me their way and it might not be very useful if I was to change department or company

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

• Company Parties/Events
• Staff Sales/Staff Shop

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I was offered a job once I had completed my placement year

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

There was a few people who I socialised with outside work but I got on better with the people in my team so I went out with them more often

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 2/10

Very expensive generally but as we got to know places better we knew cheap bars and happy hour deals etc so it wasn't as bad

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Good but very expensive so it was fairly infrequent

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

There was very little to do with the company outside work

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

Be keen and enthusiastic. Understand you are there to learn and take in as much as possible because having a good reference will put you ahead of others once you've graduated

Review 10/26 for Debenhams

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