Commercial Manager Review

The placement had its ups and downs as expected in any full-time job, but on the whole I really enjoyed the experience and am sad it is coming to an end.

The company is really good at recognising success and the management team I worked in made me feel valued. Whenever I returned from holiday or a placement in another store, my colleagues would make me feel very welcomed back, like family I hadn't seen in a while.

The support and guidance I have received from all of my management colleagues has been outstanding. There has never been a time where I have felt unsupported and never felt like I have asked a silly question. They have allowed me to really develop myself as a retail manager.

Some days were busier than others, but you have to enjoy a fast-paced environment to work within retail. Peak times such as Christmas and Summer were particularly busy but when there is no promotional activity or phase changes, there was some downtime to develop my technical capabilities and business competencies.

At the beginning of my placement, I was given small projects in order not to overwhelm me and to give me time to learn about the business, my store and my customers. In my 11th month of placement I went to another store and was incharge of the whole of Womenswear, Menswear and Lingerie for three weeeks, which was an amazing opportunity.

In my opinion, until you have put the knowledge you have learnt at university into practice, it is really hard to develop yourself as a manager. Learning on the job and being given full management accountability at times was really beneficial. You pick up people skills, technical skills and personal skills you wouldn't be able to without being in the working environment - these are skills I will take away with me to help me in my last year at university and beyond.

Whilst remaining professional, the atmosphere was almost always positive - we were always able to have a laugh and make the day to day job a fun experience.

The placement was generally well set up. However, it does take some personal input to ensure it runs smoothly throught the whole year. You have to ensure that you are hitting the right timescales with your modules and chasing after any opportunities.

Marks and Spencer run workshops throughout the year for you to go to and learn about important things linked to your modules. I went on workshops about Food, Clothing, Costs, Business Leadership, Performance Management and so on. The fact that you are also paid for your placements shows how invested the company are in you as a trainee manager.

At the end of your placement you have an evaluation with your Store Manager to see whether you will be offered employment upon your graduation. I am waiting for mine, but if you are offered a job before you return to university, it really takes the pressure off of your final year!

After workshops, we would often go out for dinner or to the pub with fellow placement students in other stores - we set up a facebook group so could contact each other outside of work too. In store, I worked very closely with some other placement students, which are now friends for life. The management team would also often go out for a few drinks or even to silly things such as bingo!

Unfortunately due to living and working in Central London, having a social life was relatively expensive. Marks and Spencers however offer placements across the country so there are opportunities for those that want a cheaper social life to work in a different location.

I worked in Kensington and Chelsea so there were lots of cool bars, pubs, restaurants and shows in the area.

Each store in Marks and Spencer operates a 'Sports and Social' club that run various activities outside of the workplace. This was a really good opportunity to get involved in activities but also to make more friends at work.