Service Delivery Support & Engagement Co-ordintor Review

Thoroughly enjoyed my time here at Boots. I was given great responsibility and ownership of workload from the outset. I was given many opportunities to discover other areas of the business, visit off site locations as well as supplies, national conferences and even went on 2 day experiential with my cohort.

Here at Boots I felt highly valued by my colleagues – there are always people on hand to talk to if I have any worries or issues. The senior leadership team also take great value in the talent programmes and were eager to learn more about the Year in Industry cohort and what we all get up to.

I was given great support from my line manager, manager and early careers team within my personal development and day to day role. There is a great support network within the PDC team and everyone clubs together to get the best results when undertaking tasks and projects across the business.

Each day was different which was good as it kept me on my toes and didn’t feel repetitive. Some days were more hectic than other, but never too busy that I became concerned and vice versa. If there was work load I felt I couldn’t take on/complete in the desired time my colleagues were accepting of this and would always lend a hand were needed and I could do similar too.

I was given many different responsibilities whilst on placement: from looking after all the compliance for a fleet of over 1800 drivers; holding managers accountable for any outstanding actions. I am been given responsibility to run charity events such as benny day and man the charity calendar. My biggest responsibility was being given ownership of all field communications. This meant I had to create engagement/communication packs for all our field team each month; this role was very rewarding and has developed me in many ways.

The skills I have learnt over the past year will definitely be transferable. From excelling my communicational and presenting skills to becoming a good listener and impactor. I have been on many useful workshop and seminar such as mindful thinking, impact and influencing and project management; all of which will help me in the final year at university and my future career.

The atmosphere in the Boots support office is pretty relaxed, although over 2500 people work here, it is very open plan and feels like everyone is one level. You are free to move away from your desk whenever and if ever you need to. The office is professional but calm ; the best of both worlds.

The organisation of the YII programme is great in terms of our development, important dates across the year and specific events. From the outset you are given a calendar detailing each event, time date etc. The application process was quite lengthy and took quite some time however I believe that may be because of the sheer volume of applicants.

The company invest lots of time and money into developing each and every person and even more so on the talent schemes: YII, graduates and apprenticeships. They organise regular development days both within your functional teams and your cohort which are great. The experimental away days are a great opportunity to develop and exercise different techniques to grasp the type of person you are and what ticks your boxes etc. .

I would love to come back and work for Boots. I think the company have great visions and values for the future and create authentic working relationships and ethics. There are constantly opportunities to excel further within the business and Boots always want to get the best out of its colleagues, which I really appreciate.

Myself and the other 9 placement students organised a few social events and evening whilst on placement which gave us time to relax on unwind from working life. The cohort development days were also useful for this. My work team also organised events such as bingo, bowling and meals out which were always good fun.

The cost of living in Nottingham for me was quite expensive for rent however I had an en-suite room in a new, furnished apartment block right in the centre on town. Food and drinks weren’t too expensive on nights out – pretty standard for a biggish city. Nottingham is great!

Nightlife in Nottingham is good – it’s a city with two universities so there are plenty of nightclubs, bars and restaurants. There are many different nightclubs to suite all tastes and music genres. There is also rock city and rescue rooms; both create gig venues in the city centre. There is definitely something for everyone!

Outside of work I personally went to the gym mostly. There is a big complex near to work with a few restaurants, a casino, cinema and bowling alley. There are also swimming pools and tennis clubs in the city, as well as grazy golf and other sports clubs to join etc.