Commercial Manager Review
by Marks & Spencer
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
4.4
-
The Company
4.2
-
The Culture
3.6
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Really enjoyable year! Every day is different and a new challenge. Dealing with angry customers is never fun but it certainly helps your communication and problem solving skills!
You are, very quickly, given a lot of responsibility in M&S and this means you become an integral part of the team very quickly. You are responsible for a lot more than other placement schemes and as a result, i found that the team treated me more as a colleague than a placement student
Regular meetings with your line manager are set up early on - they take the time to give you constructive feedback and you are measured against some tangible and clear objectives.
In store you are very busy, especially over christmas/easter/back to school - there is constantly a million things to be done! At the start you have less to do because you are still finding your feet but after a month or so you become a part of the team and quickly take on more tasks. Your daily hours would be anything from 7-3pm up to 12-9pm and you will probably work every other Saturday. Not ideal at the start but you get used to it and in the end the day off you get in the week can be very handy!
Compared to all my friends that are on placement years, i would say M&S gives you the most responsibility. If you are looking for an easy year in which you make coffee and file some paper, this is not the placement for you. M&S's scheme will challenge you and you will be given lots of responsibility!
I do things at work that i would never have dreamed of being able to do 12 months ago. From giving team briefs to 30+ members of staff, to conducting my own misconduct investigation or walking a director of M&S round a foodhall! I hope that these skills will set me apart from other graduates when applying for grad jobs.
The Company
Friendly amongst managers sometimes difficult to challenge colleagues that are older than you and have been working there for years!
Really well organised and planned
M&S encourages staff to go on any course they offer (and they run 100's every year!)
Subsidised Canteen
Financial Bonus
Staff Sales/Staff Shop
offered me a graduate job!
The Culture
For me there was, there were 3 other grads in my store. but in other cases you are the only student in store and the only time you see other grads is at the quarterly graduate catch up days
Cost of living was high - i was in London but its worth it as London is so much fun!
So much going on
Could have been better at getting grads to meet Would have been good if more social activities were set up outside of work as not much currently on offer
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Retail
London
August 2017
