Trainee Management Review

Overall the job was very enjoyable. There were good days and bad days which is to be expected. I worked on a variety of departments and so there was always something new to learn.

The people i worked with made the experience a whole lot better. I was aprehensive how older members of the team would react to a new younger manager telling them what to do but it was never an issue.

They would be there to answer any questions and give any support you needed. I was line managed by the manager I was working alongside at the time and they were there to encourage and give constructive feedback when necessary.

The majority of the time there is plenty to keep you going. Courses are organised for you attend and when in store there are plenty of attachments you can do to broaden your understanding. I also helped bolster at stores undergoing redevelopment and help out at trade fairs and employer presentations at universities.

I was lucky at the start of my placement on foods to be given the role of looking after Xmas food ordering which is a big event in our store. I then went on to look after Valentines, Easter and Mothers day. When i moved over to the clothing side of the store i had less responsiblity unitl i section managed kidswear and then commercial managed mens/kids/home. This shows the variety of experience you can get within one store.

Some of the skills i developed are retail specific and some even M&S specific but many of them be adapted to any industry. Leadership, communicating, influencing, decision making are just a few examples of skills that the foundations will be useful in any job role.

The first thing to say about this job, and it is true of most M&S management roles, is that you do not spend much time in an office at a desk. Retail is about the customer and sales and so much of my time was spent on the shop floor. The store i was in was very friendly and the atmosphere was never tense. It made for a nice working environment as everyone could have a laugh with everyone else.

Overall the set up was good. You have a program structure to follow and you are booked on courses from when you arrive. I personally had a bad experience to begin with and ended up being place in a different store from what had been planned. This meant my training did not fully begin sraight away, however from then on if your line manger has a good understanding of what you are aiming for it is well set up.

They invest a lot of time and money in you as the hope you will stay with the business. You are send on courses in topics such as leadership so you can develop into a better manager. These courses all help with developing you for the long term and would be beneficial outside M&S.

At the end of the year you have a final performance review and depending on the outcome of this and your future plans M&S may offer you to come back - this happened with me and so i can go back and have some refresher training before being appointed a commercial manager or even a simply foods store manager.

When staying overnight on courses the students would all meet up in the evening to have dinner etc. I socialised with other placement students from my store but not with those from other stores. You do meet others on the courses and these are normally the same group of people so the opportunity is there but it didnt happen with my year.

I lived at home so the cost of living was not relevant. The cost of socialising varies as in Kent you would pay normal 'town' prices however, i lived within travelling distance of London where it would obviously be a lot more expensive.

In the town i worked in there was nothing.....but you could travel about 20/30mins to find a few clubs.

They had a sports/social funbut this had gone to the back of peoples mind. It was being revived as i was levaing so may improve in the future. The only thing available was theatre trips.