Category Re-Profiling Data Analyst Review

Working for Boots was a great opportunity and learning experience, I would highly recommend the commercial placement for anyone with an interest in retailing, marketing, buying, and management.

I met some great people whilst working for Boots, not only was there a large amount of other placement students to get to know and be friends with, but the colleagues I worked with were friendly and supportive, it made moving away from university to a new city where I knew no one much easier.

Over the year at Boots I had two Line Managers, and a Mentor, all were superb in their support and dedication towards my career development. An open atmosphere was always encouraged, meaning through honest conversations we were able to develop a development plan that would help to reach my set goals. Opportunities were always created to help stretch my abilities, however I never felt in a position where I was under to much pressure, due to the great communication with line managers leading to

Realistically this depends on the job role. Personally I was in a position with set six week projects which ran throughout the year, therefore certain periods were quieter than other. However I always found the quiet periods a great chance to get out and work on self-development and get involved with other areas of the business, of which there are many, such as organising functional lunch and learns, raising money for charity, learning about other roles etc.

Within my role, I was the main analyst on a variety of projects measuring category performance. Therefore this meant all figures, and their accuracy were reliant on me, from which business decisions that would greatly impact store were made. Also within my team, by the end of the year I was one of the longest serving members, which meant taking on a number of extra responsibilities and lead roles within the team. Personally I would have liked more impact on the business decisions themselves, however once again this is dependant on the role you are given.

For my degree, it's great to have seen the theory I've learnt from a Business degree applied in real life, and then being able to take this information of the inner workings of a business and apply it in University work. However I think the skills I've learnt around the generalities of working in a large organisation, what is valued within these business, and how to be successful in them is the greatest skill Boots has taught me.

A number of events were ran throughout the year, such as Children in Need day, It's a Knock-out day, Charity football tournaments, cake sales, product sales, helping the community. Every week there was something different going on, and you were always encouraged to get involved.

The initial start of the placement was set up well, with a 4 day induction, and 6 weeks spent working in store. This was the first year of the Boots placement scheme which led to some teething problems, such as delays in job roles being assigned, a mix up in the dates of when we would be allowed to know who was successful in gaining the graduate scheme. Hopefully this will be sorted out in future years though.

A number of events were ran throughout the year, including coaching with external companies on a various number of developmental areas. There was a lot of flexibility in how you wanted to structure your development, help and support was always readily available, or you could be more self-proactive in finding personal opportunities.

The placement scheme for Boots is seen as a feeder system for the Graduate scheme, obviously this is based upon your performance through the year. I was one of the people successful in gaining the Graduate scheme and was clear to managers from the start of the year, that this was my goal, which meant they were always looking for ways to support this aim. So I'd say the future prospects are great if you have a successful year, the placement and then graduate scheme can lead on to many positions even higher in the business, and you will always be seen as someone with a great amount of potential.

During the start of the year events were put on so we could get to know each other. And throughout the year there were regular lunches together and social events. Overall there were close to 20 placement students, which meant a number of people lived together, whilst you could easily make opportunities for nights out.

Not too bad, there's the option of sharing a house with other placement students, or making use of the private student accommodation on offer in the centre of town, these are the cheapest options, and wouldn't cost much more than the usual university accommodation rates from similar locations.

Nottingham has lots of great clubs and pubs, something for all tastes. Rock City and the Capital FM provide plenty of gigs. Then there's lots of restaurant's for cuisine from all over the world. The city centre itself is quite small, meaning everything is in walking distance.

Boots is a big supporter of Macmillan and Children in Need meaning a number of money raising events throughout the year could be got involved with, this could range from supporting the events to just going and cheering things on. There is an onsite fireworks show in November, opportunities to help out in the community and many other things.