Trainee Location Analysis Support Officer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at The Co-operative Group. I've never worked in an environment prior to this placement and it has been a great experience

Since the day I started my colleagues have been extremely supportive and even though I only an 'undergraduate' I have never been treated any different to how everyone else in the team has. I am now recieving direct requests from other areas of the business and working on confidential projects.

My manager has been extremely supportive throughout the entire year. We have two weekly catch ups which is where we talk about my current workload, any tasks she wants me to get involved in, I can discuss any problems I am having or if I have too much work on. She doesn't treat me any different to other members of the team and issues the same work/projects to me also.

I have never had any days in work where I havn't had anything to do. I am always busy doing day to day tasks, projects or objectives. I see this as a bonus as I would rather be busy than be sat doing nothing all day. Even though I am always busy I never feel stressed or that I have deadlines I am not going to meet. However, if I were to have too much on there is no problem in speaking to my manager about it so she can cut down on the amount of work being issued until my other tasks are completed.

I was given responsibility for different tasks throughout my placement. This was from weekly reports that were only issued by me so I had to ensure they went out on time and up to date to work that was externally published. As this placement is only for one year it wasn't always possible to have sole responsibility on certain projects because of this constraint.

I have developed range of skills throughout my placement that I feel will help me in a lot of ways at university and in my future career. A skill that I wanted to improve this year was presentational skills as I felt they were my downfall and are used to assess a lot of modules at university. My manager knew this and has given me the option to present on numerous occasions. This, at first, terrified me but I am coming up to my last presentation before I leave and I am confident than ever about doing it. Other skills that I have developed which I think will help me in the future include use of excel, confidence and organisational skills.

Always busy and surrounded by supportive team members.

Both the organisation of undergraduate placement and by my team was great. When I started my role a training programme had already been put in place which would span four weeks on and off. This involved external training of our mapping software which was held out of the office. Meeting up with the other undergraduates prior to starting was also organised which was great as it was good to know someone before you first started.

As previously mentioned I was sent on a training course for a software package we use within the team a week after I started. I wanted to improve my excel skills and was able to attend a two day course also. Likewise I had the opportunity to go to several conferences and meetings I was interested in.

After completing this placement we are fast tracked to the assessment centre for The Co-operative Groups graduate scheme. I hope to come back onto the graduate scheme as I think it’s a great programme which gives you the opportunity to work in a wide range of businesses.

There were social events held regularly for the graduates and undergraduates. Likewise The Co-operative Group also has a very sports and social club.

I lived with my parents during the placement because I am from Manchester. You can expect to pay standard prices on a night out as most other cities.

There are many bars in and around Manchester. I would recommend the Northern Quarter.

There are many opportunities to get in other activities such as volunteering. I have been involved in a scheme called 'Number Partners' for the past six months which helps children with there numeracy. Likewise there are lots of community days and sporting events which you can easily get involved in.