Industrial Placement Student Review

Due to the vast number of roles and tasks undertaken whilst on placement, there are inevitably some aspects which are more enjoyable than others. Although there were some aspects I didn't enjoy, they were definitely still beneficial to my development, both personally and professionally.

The responsibility given to you whilst on placement ensures that you are always of value to the business. When working in stores, you are an important member of the store management team and your actions are respected and your hard work is valued. When completing projects, you are given real tasks to conduct, and so your results often play a key role in a major business decision.

The amount of support and guidance available does vary depending on your current role, although there is always someone available who can assist you. Our professional development was loosely guided, although more regular feedback would have been helpful. This is something which the Swindon region has committed to improving, for placement students starting this coming year.

Due to the nature of the business and the rapid sales growth, there are always things to be done. At times, it may feel like you have too much, or too little work, although this just serves to strengthen your time management and prioritising skills.

The level of responsibility given is incredible. Within a few months of joining the business, you are expected to be able to completely run a store throughout the day, often being the only manager on shift. This includes being completely responsible for all legal, health and safety and procedural aspects of running a supermarket store, including staff welfare and full responsibility of the cash within the building. When completing project work, you are fully responsible for your actions and outcomes. Collectively, the Industrial Placement students were responsible for ordering and allocating stock for the Christmas/New Year period for all stores in the region. This effectively gave us the responsibility of ensuring full availability in all stores, whilst ensuring wastage costs were minimised.

The skills acquired throughout the placement are incredibly varied and sometimes unexpected. The placement has allowed me to strengthen my pre existing skills, whilst also developing new ones and combating my weaknesses.

All staff are generally friendly and supportive, and will always be happy to assist.

The nature of the business and retail sector in general requires a great deal of flexibility. An initial training plan was created, which was loosely adhered to. As and when the needs of the business changed, various sections of our training plans were altered, often at short notice.

When working in the store environment, my training was definitely seen as a key focus, with much investment being put into it. Having completed my store training, and beginning to work on projects in and around the office, my training and development seemed less important than when in store. Directors however, were always keen to ensure we saw the benefit of what we were doing, no matter how mundane the task was.

The Industrial Placement scheme is seen as a year long interview, and provided you have impressed throughout the year, there is the potential to return as an Area Manager in Training.

Due to the small number of placement students in the area, and the geographical distance between our locations, social activities were often difficult to arrange.