Warehouse Operations Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year - I didn't know what to expect from it however I've learnt so much and the team I worked with were very welcoming. The year has pushed me to become more confident which is something I really wanted to achieve over the course of the year. I would say I enjoyed 90% of my time on placement and the other 10% can be used as learning experiences.

On the whole - yes, I felt valued by my colleagues. There were times when I think some members of management just saw me as someone who would do operative level jobs when they were panicking about not meeting deadlines or targets, however people welcomed me into the team and I really feel like part of the team, especially the last 4/5 months of my placement.

This varies - from my actual line manager I felt like I didn't have too much support or that he particularly knew what I was doing, he is the site manager and I only saw him occasionally and he'd just ask 'how is it going?', similarly with my shift manager, he just told me which department I would be working in from time to time but generally left my management to the First Line Managers or Team Leaders, however I didn't particularly mind as I had a better working relationship with the FLMs/TLs and felt I got more out of it this way.

Generally, I was very busy. Some days were slower than others such as bank holidays however I usually always had something to do - this was something I was initially worried about, feeling like a spare part or not having enough to do, however I feel like I was given a manageable workload with a reasonable amount of pressure to push me out of my comfort zone.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility over the duration of my placement which pushed me out of my comfort zone to begin with and the more responsibility I took on, the more confident I became following this. I was given more responsibility in my final 4/5 months of placement when I'd really built up my knowledge about the industry and how the warehouse was run.

I think the skills I developed will undoubtedly help me in the future, most of all my increase in confidence, particularly in things such as presentations. Having to give briefs to my teams at the start of shift is something I used to really struggle with but now I'm considerably better at it and am better at public speaking - something I used to really have an issue with. I think my teamwork and communication skills have also improved, as these are vital in an industry such as this. This will no doubt help me in my future career.

People at my warehouse generally all got on very well - there was a lot of negativity from management about how the site was run however this didn't detract from people getting on well and having a laugh together. There was a lot of gossiping and people talking behind each other's backs but I sort of feel like you'll get this anywhere. I enjoyed working with this group of people.

In terms of actually getting my placement and getting placed at my site, the modules etc, things organised by DHL, it was fairly well organised. At my actual site, things were slightly less well organised but not terribly so. Towards the start of my placement I was given an induction plan and a 12 month plan drawn up by my manager, this was loosely followed, however towards the last 5 months of my placement, I feel like I was just put where they needed someone rather than going to the departments I was supposed to go to in order to continue with my development plan. I didn't particularly mind this, however, as I enjoyed the majority of my roles.

As placement students, we attended a number of workshops and modules to help develop us outside of our day to day roles - these involved things such as presentation skills or team working or communication which helped and also made us feel valued and as though the company took an interest in developing us. I enjoyed these modules and it gave us students a chance to meet up and reflect or compare our placement experiences as we all work at different sites. In terms of training and development at my site, my actual site manager and shift managers didn't particularly do much regarding personal training and development, however some individuals who were Team Leaders or FLMs who I had a good working relationship with took the time to help develop my skills and give me more responsibility.

I don't know for certain whether I will be offered a place on the graduate scheme following my time on placement, however when we took on the placement, it was stated that if we do well during our year with DHL then we may be offered a place on the graduate scheme - this hasn't yet been talked about for certain so I can't properly answer this, however I would enjoy the opportunity to stay with the company and see what else DHL has to offer.

Yes - not amongst my fellow placement students as we were all spread across the country, however at my site I've been on a number of nights out with people I've made friends with from work. These were generally all arranged informally although there was a site Christmas Party for all DHL colleagues. There were also a couple of leaving parties for people and meals out - people have been very welcoming in terms of the social aspect.

Slightly more expensive than my university city, as I've worked nearer a bigger city (not London) although as I have been working full time and earning more than I would get from my student loan, it hasn't mattered too much and I've still been able to save a fair amount of my earnings.

The actual location of my site is a bit in the middle of nowhere, however I lived in the nearest city, as most people at my site do - the nightlife is excellent as it is a big city with a high student population.

Not particularly - there were a couple of charity events which the site held but they were quite small and were often forgotten about when operational requirements were prioritised which is a shame really as I feel like the site needs to do events like this to improve morale on site and give people a chance to get involved. As there wasn't much available in terms of this, I decided to organise one myself amongst my colleagues which had a fairly good response - I arranged for some of us to run a 10K in my city which was very successful in terms of the money raised for charity and a group of around 15 of us ran it. I think people are keen to get involved if the opportunities are there so this is something that the site should encourage.