Merchandising & Buying Placement Review

Naturally, covering different job roles throughout the year leads to fluctuating levels of enjoyment. Buying is a really valuable opportunity to shadow experts in their respective fields of fashion and presents a genuinely exciting opportunity, whereas the months prior to this in Merchandising are spent in a routine 9-5 desk job. After just a few weeks of training, interns are expected to run their own departments and this responsibility, alongside completing regular assessments and examinations, proves a stern test for most. A small period - around a month - is spent shadowing Buying Administration in the build-up to transitioning from Merchandising to Buying; the weeks here are structured loosely, and there are days where no work is available to do.

Different teams will provide placement students with very different experiences of their office environments. The Merchandising teams are, on the whole, very friendly and keen to integrate you into their Grand Masters. Responsibilities bestowed upon placement students match those of new graduates for the initial three months, demonstrating the trust given to interns on the scheme. Not all Managers, however, are fully aware of the role a placement student has in their Buying months, leading to some placements becoming significantly overworked with jobs not in their domain. Throughout the year, there were fairly regular instances of management condescending towards placement students, too.

The support system adapts as placements move from Merchandising to Buying, changing with the structured nature of Merch to the fluid calendar of Buyers. Monthly advisor meetings are available, as well as informal '121s' with Merchandisers whenever necessary. Help is at hand whenever placements encounter problems throughout their time at TK.

Your diary depends entirely on which stage of the placement you're at. The first six months in training and Merchandising are generally busy - especially over peak at Christmas - and there's always something else placements can do to drive sales and better their department. In Buying Admin, the workload tends to be much lighter, as students are designated to shadow, whilst the months in Buying are a total unknown. Some placements can be stuck in the office doing menial routine jobs whilst others are out shadowing every day with their Buyer.

Placements are generally given a huge amount of responsibility; firstly for their department's success, but also to drive their own development. Merchandising provides a thorough challenge over peak to meet sales targets and communicate effectively with adjacent areas of the business to help do so. This expectation eases as students move into Buying, but interns are still given vital financial documents to manage across the Buying team. The overwhelming majority of placements will have chance to take on as much as they feel they can manage, and the confidence inculcated in students is a credit to the scheme.

Whilst not necessarily pertaining to degree studies, the skills attained throughout the year at TK are valuable nonetheless. In addition to the progression of computing dexterity, placements are required to develop communicative proficiency and the ability to drive themselves to work more efficiently. Understanding emotional intelligence is stressed throughout training, as well as the importance of sympathising with different personality types in a room.

Aside from the hectic Mondays, the office is often relaxed and a chilled environment to work in. The company preaches an 'open-door policy' in which Managers' offices are left ajar to keep everyone in the conversation and create a more coherent team. A host of office competitions provide relief from the stress of peak weeks around Christmas time, and there's a host of activities for Red Nose Day every other year to either join in or set up yourself!

This splits between Merchandising and Buying. The former is structured, routine and reviewed constantly, with your performance tracked throughout a 12-week probation period before being signed off for the rest of the year. Buying is the antithesis; unplanned, spontaneous and sometimes difficult to manage. Because the onus is self-driven in the second half of the year, placements can become lost in empty diaries if opportunities aren't seized quickly, and little support is offered regarding your own calendar here.

In a word, hugely. As mentioned, the first three months on the job is purely training, often in a classroom with your fellow graduates and placements. The Merchandise Development team work hard to drive your learning and it is genuinely astounding how much you pick up in such a short space of time. This investment in you embodies the company's mantra of "hiring nice people" who they can train, as opposed to hiring qualified people who wouldn't perhaps fit in with the fashion firm's ethos.

Most placements are offered positions back at the company, starting in Merchandising as Senior Allocation Analysts. The graduate scheme, also labelled as 'Merchandising & Buying', could be potentially misleading as entrants have no guarantee of exposure to Buying for years, and it is not uncommon for graduates to enter the scheme before being informed of this.

With TJX Europe being based in Watford, many employees choose to live across North West London, as the town offers little social scene. Many placements opt to spend the year commuting from home, too.

Watford is irrationally expensive, and rent can cost up to half of your monthly wage. Prices aren't far off what you'd expect in London, and many graduates make the inevitable move to Kensal after twelve months.

Whilst Watford does have a few clubs, don't bother.

The charity-based events TJX organises includes sports tournaments, sponsored endurance feats and a handful of exclusive sales, but this is pretty much it for the year.