Allocation Analyst Review

Despite uncertain times during the Covid-19 Pandemic, I thoroughly enjoyed both my time in office prior to lockdown, and continued to feel the positive effects of the workplace culture and job role once working from my new 'home office' at the dining room table! If there's one thing that TJX do exceptionally well, it's ensuring that every single one of their associates love to work within the company, and do not just 'work to live'.

Having never experienced another workplace and only hearing stories from other's about different companies, I couldn't believe how incredibly valued you feel at TJX. From day one in training, there is huge emphasis on how much responsibility and input you will have within the company, and the year absolutely didn't disappoint. I had incredible opportunities to try things alongside my colleagues and my opinion was always made to feel relevant, valued and even sought after.

Throughout the entire year, I felt entirely supported not only by my direct line manager but from numerous people within the business. The placement team themselves offer guidance and continue outreach throughout the year. There are also numerous support groups in the form of 'mentor groups' and 'development groups' ensure that you are able to broaden your contacts to whom you can reach out to with any questions or to chat through any ideas or conversations you want to have.

Obviously the workload varies depending on your department and the time of year, but even on those days when it felt extremely busy (such as during the reopening of stores after lockdown) I always felt supported by my team and able to delegate tasks if I didn't have the time to do anything. I also felt supported by my line manager to help me in prioritising tasks to ensure that the necessary things were completed. I certainly never felt bored!

A huge amount of responsibility in the best possible way - it never felt like 'too much' in the sense that I was never underprepared to do the task at hand, as I was supported wholly by my team and throughout the training sessions. Your opinion is valued from the very beginning, your ideas are always considered and discussed, you are able to lead your own projects from beginning to end, collaborating throughout with other members of the business.

Although my degree is in Biology and therefore of little direct relevance to my year at TJX in terms of the technical skills, the soft skills that I have developed over the past year are invaluable. I hardly recognise myself from the year-ago version; my confidence is so much stronger, I am able to communicate ideas in a much more efficient manner, I have developed my time management skills and so many more - leadership, teamwork, presence and organisation, to name but a few.

Whilst I was in the office, the culture was probably the strongest aspect of my enjoyable year. Everyone is genuinely lovely and approachable, there is no hierarchical pressures, there's an open door policy to ensure you can chat to anyone at any level, there was regular birthday celebrations and social events after work. New associates are made to feel welcome with group lunches. Even when working from home this year, we had 'Friday fun' to ensure that this enjoyable aspect was able to transcend in person attendance!

Aside from some of the inevitable challenges that Covid caused which required new and unexpected ways of working, the placement team ensured the transition to working from home was as seamless as possible. An incredibly detailed 12 week training programme started our year at the business and similar levels of organisation and support were continued throughout, to ensure we never felt lost in a big company. Thoroughly trust the placement set up at TJX and couldn't recommend it more!

An intensive 12 week training period started our year at TJX which was obviously a large investment for the company as this required lots of time, resources and associates to spend dedicated sessions coaching us. Throughout the rest of the year, although formal 'training' was over, we continued to feel the support should we need any assistance or have development needs, and there was never the sense that we were left to our own resources once fully on department.

I was fortunate enough to be offered a job with TJX once my degree has been completed and I couldn't feel more lucky to have such an incredible opportunity. I genuinely feel that I have absolutely fallen on my feet to have discovered such a company as my first job, as I can appreciate that by no means are there many companies as dedicated to their associates happiness and wellbeing as TJX are. I can't wait to return!

In the initial training period, there were 'graduate connections' sessions at a bowling alley, pub and laser quest to ensure that we socialised with the other placement students in those first few weeks and built connections. Once on department, we formed connections with other fellow colleagues and amongst my departments there was a strong social feel. I regularly met up with other colleagues outside of working hours to socialise. Even when working from home, there were occasional optional calls outside of work hours to chat and catch up with fellow colleagues.

Obviously being near to London, Watford is a pretty expensive area to live. The 2 bedroom unfurnished flat that I rented with a fellow placement student was £625 a month each, quite a bit more than I was used to at University up North! However I felt as though the salary was more than appropriate to sustain living in the Watford area and having to pay more for general living/socialising. It is around £10 return into London on a 15 minute train so that was ideal!

This is the one side of Watford that I didn't experience at all. There are a number of pubs/clubs/bars in the area and there is obviously direct access into London and the surrounding smaller areas, so I'm sure there is plenty to do, however it is certainly a lot more expensive than I was used to up North at University, so I tended to avoid this as an activity in general! There is a Wetherspoons for a cheaper pint though!

The socialising aspect to work was pretty strong within the Menswear team, and there were often trips for drinks after work, particularly towards the end of the week! Unfortunately I didn't partake in many activities but that was likely because my year in Watford was cut short by the Covid Lockdown and I only ended up staying in my flat until March. There is a gym at work so this is another activity that many colleagues seemed to do together!