Industrial Placement Student/Management Trainee [Waitrose] Review
by John Lewis Partnership
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
4.9
-
The Company
4.8
-
The Culture
2.9
- 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
Very varied and very enjoyable! I'm on my six month and now appointed an Assistant Section Manager. The next six months could result in me becoming a Section Manager and then a Department Manager - very varied with a unique company culture!
If you go in with a "graduate ego", fellow Waitrose partners will isolate you...if you go in without the ego you'll learn a lot from very experienced people! I felt very valued by my colleagues!
Reviews every 3 months, a dedicated (and out of store) training supervisor who looked at my progress, an in-store mentor, a graduate and IP manager, weekly meetings and balanced feedback.
You'll never get everything done that you want to! Working in-store (particularly around key sales date eg Xmas) is hectic and hard work but very rewarding!
I have responsibility for a section taking over £1,000,000 a year!
Waitrose recognises that the graduate programme isn't for everybody so they dedicate 5 training days at Head Office to non-Waitrose related training. We were asked on our first day what we wanted to learn and now we have taylor made courses on how to conduct meetings, handle stress, management styles etc. Very good!
The Company
Pressurised and busy at times but a nice balance! Social nights out are allocated in branch budget and recently included dinners etc.
The placement scheme is what you want! You are given an outline and you design it how you want (providing it is realistic). If you want to spend a day in a department at Head Office, you can, and all Waitrose ask is that it is relevant to your training!
I cannot fault Waitrose...as mentioned above training days were taylored to our requirements. Development (especially in-store) is very fast and hard at times but help and support is available easily via many routes!
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Staff Sales/Staff Shop
Above 25 days holiday
If you do well...you'll be offered a grad job!
The Culture
It's the South East...it's never cheap!
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Scotland
January 2009
