Merchandising & Buying Placement Review

The placement is split into two roles, keeping the placement varied and interesting. There was also plenty of opportunity to travel around Europe giving great insight into different markets. The company's culture is very casual, open and friendly in the most part so if you're chatty and don't mind putting yourself out there, the opportunities are endless.

Very! The first part of the placement you are treated the same as a graduate, doing an integral role within a team meaning your opinion is essential to the business. The second half of the placement is a shadowing role so although your responsibility level decreases, your opinion is still valued providing you back it up with solid reasoning.

The first 3 months of the placement are training intensive, this basically gives you all you need to know and plenty of practice on job role related tasks. Moreover, there is fairly frequent training around emotional intelligence which is psychology based and very interesting, plus it helps you become more self aware and get the best out of yourself and others. Plus, there are monthly catch ups to ensure you're getting the most out of your time.

Generally, very, but never to the extent it was unmanageable. The first half (merchandising) of the placement you're given a lot of tasks and will generally not run out of things to do. Sometimes during the second half (buying) of the year you have to drive your own workload to get the most out of it; but again, if you're proactive there's never nothing to do.

Similar to what I said earlier, the Merchandising side of the placement has more responsibility because of your role within the team whereas in Buying you are shadowing. Having said that, my opinion is still very much valued by the person I'm shadowing and in some cases I am given complete autonomy over what we buy, pluis the importance of the buying role makes you feel like you're making a real difference.

In my degree, it'll help a lot with organisational structures, how supply chains work and topics related to the culture and ethics of big businesses. Beyond that, the self-awareness and self-confidence gained this year will really help me with deciding which career path I want to take and having the confidence and ability to follow it.

Very casual, generally speaking everyone is very reasonable and loves a laugh. There's a lot of exposure to senior individuals which might be daunting at first, but everyone gets treated with respect. If you have a good idea, you will NOT be dismissed as the placement, people genuinely listen and act.

The general structure of the year was very clear and ran smoothly. However, there were a couple of occasions where some decisions weren't made until the very last minute or were poorly communicated; e.g. when we were moving from Merchandising into Buying and who we would be shadowing. Saying that, the company is very open to honest feedback and implemented changes throughout the year to rectify any issues.

3 months of training They'll sort you out with all the technology required Frequent 1:1s and catch ups Allowed to travel throughout Europe Personal development can also be very self-lead, if you figure out and vocalise what it is you want to do, there are very few limitations.

From the start there is a strong sense of, if you do a good job throughout the year, we want you to come back.

Most people were lovely and we would often go out for drinks, etc. The workforce, particularly in Merchandising, tend to be quiet young (in their 20s). However, Watford (where the head office is) isn't overly exciting (London is only 20mins away on the train but when your rent is half your wage, you have to ration the amount of times you can afford to go). The workforce is predominantly female and I was the only male on my intake of 8 placements which although everyone was great, it sometimes meant activities like going to the pub to watch the football weren't on the cards.

Expensive! London prices are a bit of a shock to the system when you've grown up in Lancashire and go to Uni in Liverpool. Socialising costs quite a bit more but the hardest thing to manage is rent, which is nearly double what I paid for my Uni house last year.

Watford has a few bars and night clubs but on the whole is an absolutely terrible night out. London on the other hand offers some great places (find a friend who knows where to go), once you get over the prices.

There was football on a Thursday night but everything was driven by individuals, the company doesn't offer many activities outside of work bar the occasional team day and Christmas party.