Technical Assistant Review

My placement time at the Co-op (14 months due to a contract extension) was great, I was given lots of responsibility and projects to complete as well as managing my time and tasks in the 'day job'. There were a number of students on the placement programme so we had a great group to socialise with in Manchester city centre! The team I worked in was very friendly and accommodating and took their time to explain tasks and process to me.

My manager gave me lots of projects and opportunities to learn about other areas of the business and spend time in different teams to learn about their roles and how a food business operates. I was certainly treated the same as everyone else and not as 'the placement student'. I was given regular performance reviews and had a formal 1:1 schedule, tracking my progress and development. The team I worked in treated everyone and me fairly.

I was given lots of support from my line manager and the colleagues around me as well as the student under the same line manager. I was given time to understand process and tasks assigned and not felt it went against me in asking questions, it is the best way to learn from your placement year! My manager gave me formal reviews to track progress and we discussed how I was working and what I wanted to gain from my placement monthly.

I had a number of larger projects to complete as well as smaller projects I was working on alongside the daily tasks I was responsible for, I certainly was not making tea all the time!! The work I did was at the same level of team colleagues and I was not treated any differently. I went to different sites to work on projects as well as the Manchester office. I also worked in a sister department when they had too much work on, which was great extra experience.

I was individually signing off legal documents just like the others in the team quite quickly after training and mentoring from them. I was given some projects to complete that I worked on individually and had to track progress and report on progress monthly. I was treated just like a full time permanent member of the team which meant I could obtain some really great experience throughout my placement taking on quite a high level of responsibility.

I left university in year 2 with a 3rd predicted grade upon degree completion. I graduated with a 2:1 and feel this was due to my placement and gaining that valuable experience, skills and knowledge I did. Also the working attitude and being strict with myself to assign myself short term goals in my final year, just like I was taught on to do on placement with project work, which made the final year much more manageable.

The office atmosphere was very relaxed, friendly and supportive. We all had a lot of work to do, but also had some office chats, the balance was right. I certainly didn't feel that I was being clock watched when I arrived and departed the office or the breaks I took to visit the shop. We worked flexi time which also helped a lot with unplanned heavy traffic / train delays etc. The office dress was smart casual so felt comfortable too.

The placement programme was well structured, we were encouraged to meet up with other placement students during lunch/after work. We had support from HR colleagues and knew who to contact if we needed assistance if something wasn't going quite right or needed to talk to someone that wasn't your line manager within the business. I got additional work in a sister team so spend half my placement with one team and half with another so obtained lots more experience than I had planned to.

I had training on the role I applied for then additional formalised training in the role I moved to in the second half of my placement, so I got lots of training for both roles. There were courses you could attend which were orgainsed by the HR / learning and development teams. I talked to people in other roles in sister teams and spent days shadowing them too. There are lots of opportunities you just need to take people up on them!

Upon finishing my original 12 month contract, I was asked to stay on in my role for an additional 2 months. During my final year at university I then went back for contract work in the team I spent the second half of my placement. Upon completion of my final year, I was encouraged to apply to a full time permanent position that came up within the team and was successful in my application so my placement set me up for my first full time permanent role!

There was a group of us on placement all together, some with different start dates but we were encouraged by the HR department to meet up which we did. We often had lunches together in the canteen and went out for drinks after work in Manchester which was on the doorstep. We also got a discount card for the Printworks, which offered cheaper drinks, food and cinema tickets deals - just for Co-op staff members! We were also on the doorstep of Manchester's shopping area so could nip to shops at lunch!

The office is based in the heart of Manchester city centre. City centre living is expensive. Most students on placement lived on the outskirts of the city or at 'home' - like me. Commuting was not a problem though as we were across the road form Victoria train station and the train connections worked perfectly for me, especially with the flexi time system in place. We had a printworks card which made drinks and food cheaper. There was also a sports and social club for cheaper theatre tickets for Manchester theatres.

Co-op HQ is in the Northern Quarter where all the niche upcoming bars and restaurants are. The Printworks is also very close by for the chain food and drink offerings as well as the whole of the city centre on the doorstep. There are a couple of traditional pubs next to the building too for 'quick after work drinks'. There were plenty of student nights to go to and venues to cater for all music tastes.

The group of placement students often went for after work drinks in Manchester city centre, as well as drinks with the team I worked in. We had a Christmas party which was also fun! There are loads of things to do in the city centre and outskirts, like all big cities. Co-op also got involved in community events and we were encouraged to complete community activities and I also remember wrapping lots of selection boxes for a childrens Christmas party!