Commercial Manager Review

The internship was interesting in discovering the retail corporate world. The internship gave me insight into working as a commercial manager in a store environment. I enjoyed engaging with other members of the organisation, such as going to Head Office for two days during the internship and visiting the distribution sites. The internship gave me insight into management roles in the corporate world and helped me expand my professional network. The internship was very self-motivated and involved planning your own day, which was difficult at times. Therefore, it could have been better structured as some days as interns we were unsure of what we were supposed to be doing.

In the store I felt valued by the commercial managers and other staff members in store. Everyone smiled and said hello in the mornings whilst walking around the store. It was interesting to gain insight into the commercial team and feel valued. The other employees were also very welcoming and friendly.

The management were excellent when necessary, always offering to give time to help with our project ideas. However, there were too many lines of management supporting us, which made it confusing as to who we needed to ask for help and queries during the internship. Sometimes when we asked for help we didn't recieve a reply for a few days which was frustrating. However, everyone when asked was helpful. We were able to practice our presentation to the commercial team which was excellent use of practice as we gained invaluable feedback.

The first few weeks were packed with interesting excursions, such as the distribution centres and the trip to head office in London for our projects, where we participated in a course on leadership. These trips were very valuable for our projects we were assigned. Day to da I shadowed different members of staff to learn about their roles, which wa interesting but not hands on. We then spent the last 2 weeks on our presentation on customer service.

As a result of shadowing other colleagues we weren't given alot of responsibility. The internship was heavily orientated around listening to other members of staff explain their roles and then sitting in on meetings in store. It was interesting to gain insight into the BIG team and learn about VM's role. However, this did not give us the management responsibility.

I developed many skills during the placement, such as public speaking, confidence and networking. The placement allowed me to voice my opinions about curren processes in the business and ways that I believed would add value to the business. I have also developed my commercial awareness as a result of the role, especially in the tough climate retail sits within. I gained lots of knowledge on how a business is run and the importance of collaboration to succeed.

The office always felt very friendly and welcoming. There wasn't any space for us in the actual office so we often took spaces elsewhere. The staff in the different offices were always helpful when asked and gave off a friendly positive atmosphere to come to work for. The shop floor was a large part of the internship, of which everyone was friendly and happy to help.

Overall the beginning of the internship was well set up, with trips to London, Barnsley, Castle Donnington. These days were well structured and we knew what we needed to get out of them. Day to day initially the internship was well set up, the line manager we had told us who to go find to shadow and then split us into BU's. Over half way through the internship our line manager was transferred to a new store, leaving us without a line manager. After this we felt unsure of our duties in store so began working on our projects.

The fit to lead course in HO London was an excellent development tool that highlighted what makes an excellent leader. The knowledge to sell conference calls were also excellent in being able to analyse how the presenters communicated to their audience. The different contact points from different experiences during the internship developed my professional network and confidence in speaking with people more experienced than I am. I have learnt that people usually always want to help you develop, no matter how high up they are in the company.

The role the sector of the internship is placed within is a sector I am still unsure I want to join after university. The unsociable hours of the job are less attractive, but the company as a whole is excellent and offers excellent opportunities for a future career. The internship has been excellent to taste retail so I am very grateful of the opportunity whatever the outcome.

Having the other 4 interns was an excellent bonus to the internship, although we were placed in different stores we met up at weekends or after Saturday shifts. We had a facebook and whatsapp group which allowed us to communicate. We only saw the other interns in London and at the depot's in work time though. It would have been nice to integrate more as interns and work together more at work.

I was already at university in Leeds so I had my accomadation from being a student already. My rent, bills and living costs were no different to the costs of being at University. The socialising elements of Leeds are excellent and reasonably priced, so enjoying any free time we had was easy to do so. There are many Aldi and Lidl's close by and the M&S staff discount is a benefit that allows you to treat yourself to nicer food when you wanted too.

Leeds is a vibrant city with many options to choose from in terms of nightlife. Whether it is a festival, clubbing, bars or pubs Leeds has something to offer. The shopping in Leeds is also excellent so there is always plenty to do. The socialising elements of Leeds are excellent and reasonably priced, so enjoying any free time we had was easy to do so. There are also many cultural festivities in Leeds that are enjoyable for all. Overall, Leeds is amaxing and would recommend it to everyone.

There are also sport clubs, gyms and many nice restaurants to eat in in Leeds. Leeds is a vibrant city with many options to choose from in terms of nightlife. Whether it is a festival, clubbing, bars or pubs Leeds has something to offer. The shopping in Leeds is also excellent so there is always plenty to do. The socialising elements of Leeds are excellent and reasonably priced, so enjoying any free time we had was easy to do so. There are also many cultural festivities in Leeds that are enjoyable for all. Overall, Leeds is amaxing and would recommend it to everyone.