BPP Commercial Manager Review

My placement year at M&S was a really enjoyable experience. I don't think I know a fellow M&S BPP or Grad who didn't have a good time completing their placement year!

From day 1 I was treated like a manager and was involved in all meetings, given the chance to add input where necessary, this was great as it made me feel valued from the start of my placement. At times it was difficult to win over customer assistants who didn't like young managers but this was all part of the job and as my placement progressed I found it easier to have people on my side from the start of an attachment.

Throughout my placement year I had regular reviews with my line manager and store manager. Whenever I asked for support or feedback on my performance I was given it and this really helped me develop throughout my placement year.

How busy I was depended on what attachment and what stage of the attachment I was at. At the start of attachments I would find myself less busy as it was more about learning rather than managing. When given my own business unit to lead and manage towards the end of my placement I was a lot busier.

This varied depending on what stage of my attachment I was working at. From day 1 I was treated like a manager in store and knew that decisions I made could have an effect on the overall performance of my store. Towards the end of my placement year I was given full responsibility of running my own business unit, additionally on several occasions I was the store duty manager which involved making key decisions and the opening and closing of the store.

Over my placement year I believe that the personal skills I developed will be invaluable in my degree studies, especially my presenting skills and how I communicate information.

This depended on how busy the store was and what all of the other managers had on. Overall I worked with a great bunch and we all got along well. Your experience of this will obviously depend on which store you are placed in and what you make of it! Around Christmas it was extremely busy and everyone was working long hours but the atmosphere was still great.

At the start of my placement year I received a BPP/Grad guide which gave details of and outlined all of my training and attachments for my placement year.

Throughout the year the company put on training courses including people & cost management which were very useful. I was also able to arrange a 2 week attachment to head office which enabled me to see the company from a different perspective, which also gave me the experience of what it would be like to work in an office.

At the end of my placement year I was signed off and will be able to return on the graduate returner programme.

Whenever we had a course it was with the other placement and graduate students within our geo so this was a good networking experience. We were sent up and down the country and often put up in a hotel the night before so often went out for food and drinks. You will probably keep in contact more with the grads/bpps at the closest store to you and arrange nights out yourself.

I lived in Nottingham during my placement year so it was a typical student town, probably a bit cheaper than Manchester where I go to university.

Living in a student city meant that if I wanted to I could go out any day of the week.

This will depend on your store. Stores often arrange charity fundraising nights or days, other than this it will be up to you to arrange or lead your own activities.