Retail Trainee Manager Review

Overall a really good year, but poor organisation from the company which is currently undergoing major changes so not a very stable environment for an intern.

This depends on where you are based. As the store I was in was a training store, management changes every couple of months, meaning new managers don't really understand where you fit into the team and sometimes you just get labelled a 'grad' and not thought of as a manager.

Again as mentioned previously, management changed so regularly in my store, by the end of my placement I had been through 3 different line managers. This meant that whilst one manager may support you and guide you really well, another manager may replace them and give you a completely different experience.

This varies very much depending on the activity in your store, but generally every day you are very busy. Peak seasons mean you are very busy and you don't know where your day has gone, but then it quietens down and you have more time for admin things and for your own development. It's definitely not a 9-5 job but you'll never be bored and it's way more fun when it's busy!

This varies depending on modules, on one module I completely shadowed a manager for the whole time, and on another I was given two business units to run on my own for 5 weeks! This was a fantastic experience so I would definitely recommend pushing for this during your placement, but don't expect it to be easy!

The skills I've developed are definitely more life skills, such as dealing with people, difficult situations, customers etc. It's given me a great insight into the working life and what you learn in your degree in real life situations.

This varies depending on the team you work with, at some points it's great fun and you can gel really well as a team, and at others it feels like the most stressful place on earth. As a general however, not much of my time is spent in the office as you are generally shop floor based all day.

This is where the problems over my placement arose, the store I was based in didn't actually know what a BPP (business placement programme) even was when I started and nobody seemed to know what to do with you at the beginning, and this is very daunting when joining a large company! Weekly feedback sessions are meant to happen with your line manager, however through my whole year this only happened about 6 times! With a very unstable store environment and regular manager changes makes quite a difficult training environment, making it feel like you're on your own sometimes! Other grads did however have a very different experience in other stores so this may be very different dependent on where your based!

There isn't really any time for personal development! Whilst there are lots of training courses available, and these are very useful, it's difficult to find the time to develop yourself. There is so much going on in stores there's no time to fill in your training booklets, however your development will progress much better through experiences on the shop floor anyway! The best way to train is to experience it first hand anyway not just ticking boxes!

As the company is undergoing so many changes in its structure, it's a very unstable environment for grads/interns etc. There are more opportunities if you are willing to be totally flexible with location and are willing to be based in stores. There doesn't really seem to be a route for BPP's to continue after the final year at university, but it's been a great experience to add to my CV!

As I was based in Cambridge, there are a lot of social opportunities and often nights out organised amongst colleagues. However as all of the other interns were based in stores at least 1 hour away you don't really get to socialise unless a meeting is organised!

As I was based in Cambridge, it was very very expensive, I actually lived at home for the year but had to travel an hour and half each way, and pay travelling Costs. This worked out much cheaper than living in Cambridge however!

As Cambridge is a student city, nightlife is great!

Not that many other activities are organised through M&S, however as Cambridge is such a large city there are loads of things to get involved in!