Allocation Analyst Review

I loved the work environment and culture, it was really welcoming and easy to get settled and to become comfortable with the job. The office environment especially helped create and build relationships. I loved all the extra opportunities we were given e.g. store immersion and experience in buying, they were such invaluable experiences. Even down to the fact we were given proper roles with responsibility for our placement year, with a huge focus on development not bad criticism for mistakes.

A Lot of the work i produced would never go unnoticed, whether that was with praise or constructive criticism, which really helped me develop. I had a graduate on my team and i helped her through a lot of the training and development on department tasks. This almost reinforced my own knowledge as well as developing hers. I felt valued by her and my manager for supporting her development. Even when i moved into buying i did market research and competition updates for the buyers on my team who appreciated this insite as they wouldn't always have time to look in that depth.

During my first six months of placement my manager was really supportive and helped my development. i would have regular catch ups with her to discuss how i was getting on and what i need to work on to develop further. I found this really encouraging and motivating. I changed manager half way through and it took me a while to adjust to his way of working. I didn't feel as supported by him as we didn't have as regular catch ups or feedback. Whenever we did they were productive but i feel my development slowed in the second part of my placement. I feel this wasn't only due to manager change though as we then were then working from home and i should have pushed back for more time with him.

During training the workload seemed very appropriate and worked well for me, at times it was challenging but it was expected starting a new job. Once i was on department again it felt like a good work load as i could shadow people when i could and practice on things i needed to work on when it wasnt so busy. Overall working in the office felt like a good work load. Working from home was very quiet for the first few months and work we did felt unnecessary as everything changed week after week. Buying was also quite quiet as i was shadowing and there wasn't always things to do with her and the grad on my team no longer needed help with work on the merch side. I understand that all the workload working from home was in unprecedented times so i don't really count it!

I felt i was given full responsibility over my placement. Having the same job role as Graduates really showed that i had an integral part in my team and the business. I was encouraged to make my own decisions based on my own knowledge and opinions for the business. I had the responsibility to ensure product got to stores in an optimal way, communicating updates and insights with my team and influencing the buying team.

The knowledge i gained about how an off price retailer works will be a great alternative knowledge i will have for my studies in final year. The hard skills from the job roles to reading reports will be really transferable skills especially the use of excel - having used it everyday in my job for the past year i am very competent. The soft skills i have gained are invaluable; team working, good communication, flexibility, resilience - especially having adapted to working from home, will be skills for life!

The office was a great environment to work in. Everyone in the office was really friendly, always up for making work fun but also really motivating to do your best and to develop. I felt like i could go to anyone for help and advice and felt included within the team very quickly. Being able to catch up with people on a personal level as well as about work really helped develop relationships and make the office a great atmosphere to work in.

Placement year felt very well organised. Starting off with the training, that was always well set up with not too long training sessions and a good mix in the week, gradually easing you into department time. I also liked how we had regular placement catch ups to not only allow us to raise any issues but to also catch up with everyone else and to see how everyone else's experience was going. The buying part was also really well ran considering the circumstances i really enjoyed the training and getting to speak to lots of different buyers from different areas with different experiences was really interesting.

Within the group of graduates and placements on my GM we got a lot of training from the analysts and AMs on the GM for what we as a group needed extra help on which was good as it was a small group so it was easy to ask questions. I struggled with the ladder early on and i had a couple one to one sessions with another AM on the GM which was really helpful. I also got a buddy on my GM a few months in where we met bi weekly and focussed on what i wanted to develop or was struggling on which was also very helpful in developing my communication skills.

Really exciting, i feel very lucky to have a place to work there after i finish university. The opportunities to develop and progress in the company are really encouraging. I also like how there isn't only one route of progression you can take, to just buying and how you can go into different functions of the business also like stores or online conversion. I like that i will know the role i am going into and will be able to really get into the job without having a year cap!

Yes i was friends with the majority of my intake and everyone was keen to go for drinks after work to catch up. The connections that were put into our training were also a really nice way to socialise with everyone more than just in the office. We all had a group chat and got on very well. I hope to keep in touch with friends i made over placement and have those relationships across the business when i re join.

As i am used to living in student accomodation, with student events, outside of London, Watford was quite expensive for me. I had a great location for my accomodation - only a 5 minute walk to work and similar distance to the station also, but this was expensive. The area had a variety of affordable and slightly fancier places to socialise which was ok for me as the higher prices were expected and not a suprise.

I didn't really experience the nightlife in Watford, i was usually not in Watford on the weekends and I wouldn't be inclined to go out on a weeknight like i would at uni because of work. I would choose to go out in London instead if i was around as there are more exciting events and i have more friends based there. Going out for dinner or drinks was nice in Watford though as there was a lot of choice and could be done on a weeknight.

Yes my intake group would usually organise going for drinks at the end of each week at the beginning of the year and as i made more friends i went out with those that i worked with as well which was nice to create a relationship outside of work. Our team did a team day to an escape room which was good, again to build relationships outside of work and there was also the christmas party.