Food Technology Placement Review

Had a great time working at the place and in a job that was essentially my dream job. I believe I am really lucky to get something like this, best year of my life

Superlative environment to work in and complete support from all colleagues

In the first few months of the scheme I was given a good amount of guidance however as the year went on I was left alone more and more to manage myself and my own team. Even now I am back at University both Managers still keep in touch to continue acting as mentors and giving advice.

There were a number of daily expectations of all Managers that required a great deal of time management and getting involved in areas other than direct sales was encouraged. Throughout my year I not only took part in my day to day tasks but also took on responsibilities in other service areas

Initially it took some time to understand and get familiarized with the role but once I was comfortable with the food department and figured out my importance in the scheme of things I was given more and more responsibility even in service and other areas

I developed a great deal of personal skills as I matured over the year and also received excellent quality of training on a number of workshops such as Effective Communication and Presenting. Areas that have greatly impacted upon my Final Year studies include time management, my personal drive to succeed and the way I communicate with others

The general atmosphere in my base store was good, staff were motivated and the Managers in general were great leaders.

My Placement Scheme was created centrally by the HR Team in Head Office but managed by my HR Business Partner. She organised a number of attachments in different departments and stores so that every single week of my programme was set out in advance. She was also very accommodating of my personal preferences, catering the scheme so that I spent more time in the areas I enjoyed

The company and Regional team invested a huge amount of training and experiences into my development. I was given the opportunity to shadow the Regional Manager for the day, attend Graduate conferences with speeches from the Directors and attended a large amount of training workshops.

The Placement Programme at M&S should be seen as a yearlong interview, if you work hard and are believed capable, a job will be offered for after Graduation. I was given the opportunity to continue my employment with M&S by working part-time during my Final Year studies and then offered a position as a Graduate on the 'Placement Returner Scheme'. This scheme echoes the Graduate scheme but takes just 3 months rather than 12 months.

From a social perspective I started as part of a group of 6 Graduates and we all got along well so we would socialise together and are still close now.

Expensive so the cost of living was high. However, the placement scheme salary is competitive and it was comfortable

Great life and good opportunity for socializing on weekends

The store and business offer a number of different opportunities to engage outside of work such as quizzes, theatre trips, day trips, parties, charity events and celebratory work lunches and I took advantage of these.