Business Placement Trainee Review

I was very happy with my decision to apply and accept a place on the M&S.com team and definitely finished my year with a more professional and positive outlook. I completed four three-month rotations, and each one helped my development even when I couldn't see it at the time! The people were the biggest contribution to my time working for the company, as they made any challenging moments so much easier.

Extremely- I was made to feel part of the team and despite my young age at the time, I was never made to feel under valued.

Support was always readily available which helped a lot throughout the year. There were small periods of time when I felt I needed a little more guidance on my day-to-day responsibilities but this was subject to certain departments and in fact helped me to take more initiative.

There weren't many moments when I felt like I had nothing to do. Each rotation manager was quite set in what place I would have on their team so I had assigned projects and tasks.

I was pleased that my responsibilities extended further than just a Business Placement Trainee to providing input on the Business Placement Scheme itself. This added another dimension to my role and meant that the projects I worked on covered a wider part of the business.

The major focus on organising your time, working to deadlines and applying new knowledge has enabled me to produce work of a higher quality in my final year so far. In terms of situations outside of university, my financial reporting skills have improved so I now use them in my part-time role. I also generally feel more confident in communicating and articulating my ideas to others.

For the most part, it was a happy place where members of staff had formed good friendships and working relationships which is part of the reason why I felt so welcome at M&S. Given the nature of retail and its stressful periods, there were times when people were stressed and very busy but it didn't take away from my experience as I also saw those times as fun. The management team also made effort to make sure teams took the pressure off of themselves every once in a while. Around Christmas was when I enjoyed the atmosphere the most!

During the application stages, M&S were prompt with getting back to me on my progress. I did feel, however, that there was a slight lull in communication between the time of accepting my offer and starting the job. On arrival though, they were ready for me to go straight into my role and I had a mentor for my personal reviews. My mentor changed twice within the year, although the reason for one of these changes was unforeseen. This level of organisation generally continued throughout the year.

There were lots of courses on offer ranging from presentation skills to effective time management to commercial acumen which my managers were happy for me to attend. I was encouraged to get the most out of my placement year, and I certainly took advantage of the resource that was on offer.

I plan on returning to M&S after finishing my degree, and see the company being able to provide me with a great foundation for my career.

I was part of a larger group of placement students and graduates. The number of social events with placement students in other parts of the business was limited but those who were in M&S.com made an effort to socialise together. Also, there were always birthdays and the like to celebrate which brought everyone together. We did quite a lot together outside of the office.

I lived at home so was not affected by living expenses but social events could be quite costly as they were in the West End of London