Placement Review

I enjoyed working in retail and got a 'buzz' from the environment. Its very fast-paced and hands on which i liked.

I was made from day one to feel part of the senior management team and felt valued. Our role was clearly presented to the store so that all members knew of us and were around to help.

The scheme gives you lots of suport to learn the different departments such as foods and clothing. You start by shadowing managers to see what they do then have time to 'put into practice'. I was given feedback weekly which helped me learn and progress.

The store itself can get very busy and there is usually lots to do- espeically at christmas and during events.

The management team coach you by giving you small sections of the store to look after and then increase your responsibility. By the end of the placement i quite often had responsibility for the largest department in the store when the commencial manager was away.

The placement has helped me have a practical insight into retailing which has been useful in my final year.

The management team was very professional and got along ok. Because its retail we didn't reallly work in an office as we were mostly on the shop floor.

The scheme was very organised and the year is planned out where you move to and what you should archieve. There are sign-off sheets which you aim to complete by the end of the year. In my store, the store manager did however change the scheme a bit so i didn't get to learn some aspects of the store.

M&S did invest in me during the placement year. I was sent on lots of training days which were really helpful. We also had regular feedback and workbooks to complete which helped my personal development.

Future employment is very appealing. M&S really value their staff and their staff welface policies are very good. I have accepted a job from M&S when i graduate which i am very excited about.

I was placed with 4 other graduates and we all got on really well. I did get to meet some other graduates on corporate training days but often they lived quite far away from our store!

I stayed at home and commuted to work but the area is not too expensive.

Southampton has good nightlife. Working in retail though meant that as graduates we very rarely were all able to go out on the same nights as one of us was working the next day.

There were some social events throughout the year- eg the xmas ball.