Retail Section Manager Intern [John Lewis] Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on my placement. There were times when I did wonder if retail was the job for me but there was lots of variation within my placement that allowed me to get a feel for a lot of different areas within the company.

All the people were lovely and welcomed me onto the department and I was very sad to leave.

My manager on my 'home' department was incredibly supportive and she made the time I spent on my department very enjoyable. She was very approachable, as were the other managers, and I felt they gave me an excellent level of guidance.

Some days I actively worked on the shop floor with my team and so had very full days. Sometimes the flow of customers was almost too much but other days there was a nice balance.

There were numerous occasions when I was left to run the floor on my own, which I felt was a huge responsibility and this did occur quite early on in my placement so I was pleased with the level of trust my manager put in me. There were numerous tasks that I was given ownership of as well.

I feel my interpersonal skills have heightened no end due to having to work with the public. I do feel like I have worked on a vast amount of other skills as well though that I will take forward into the next thing I do, such as communication, presentation and organisational skills to name a few.

Some days people needed to get on with work but generally the atmosphere was relaxed and we were able to have a laugh as well.

I think the assessment process was set up fine and once I was carrying out my internship, the organisation was set up well. The process that informed my branch that I would be interning with them and them contacting me however was a little lapse in terms of communication and there were times when I had to seek my branch out to find out pieces of information that I felt I should have been told.

My managers on my 'home' department took time out of their days to coach and train me on various topics and aspects of the job, which was invaluable. I was also given support and help to be able to develop my skills and shown ways that I could demonstrate my behaviours.

The outcome of my internship is that I have been fast-tracked to the last stage of the application process for their graduate scheme so I am very hopeful and would like to work for them.

There was only one other summer intern and we only overlapped for a couple of weeks so there wasn't really any opportunity to socialise.

Relatively cheap as I lived in my university house and it was a student area so manageable for socialising.

It was a student area so the nightlife was great. However I only experienced this a few times as I was working full time.

I made friends with some members of staff who I could have socialised with outside of work but other that that there wasn't anything in particular in terms of activities.