Buyers Administrator Review

Though working at ASOS was an invaluable experience in terms of developing my skills and working experience, due to the understaffing, overworking, high rate of staff turnover and lack of support given within the department I was placed on, my placement was overall not enjoyable. I feel that this experience could have been more beneficial if the team I was working within were more willing to share their own knowledge and had less of a focus on piling on the workload to other members of staff, myself included.

Although verbally my line manager outlined my value to her, this did not reflect in her actions or the actions of the rest of the department. When I raised concerns on the actions of other staff toward me, it seemed they did not care how I was treated or have any interest in developing my skills in any way – they did not see me as there to learn but there as an extra pair of hands on a severely understaffed department. Though putting my all into this placement to demonstrate my worth within the industry, recognition did not translate into actions and the workload continued to be actively piled on. New staff joining the team had very negative attitudes toward me and my long standing line manager trusted them above me.

Little to no support was given by the line manager when issues were raised. A dismissive attitude was present and resolutions always promised but never made – it was very much every person for themselves. When new staff started on the department with bullyish behaviour, the line manager did not address the situation well and victims of this bullying were suggested to be the problem. This was extremely disheartening for the entire department, creating very low team morale and a consistent negative vibe on the department.

On a daily basis I was very busy – there was always a large workload due to the severe understaffing and lack of sharing the workload equally – it is an expectation of the BAA to always pick up any extra work. This led to frequent unpaid overtime often working 8am to 8pm on a daily basis. There were never enough hours in the day for the workload given. I was also held responsible for training new permanent staff on the department adding further workload. It seemed like this was an issue across all own buy departments.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility due to the lack of staff. I was able to develop my own clothing designs and do cost price negotiations with suppliers – both of which are often an assistant buyers role so great experience to put on the CV! I have been responsible for managing stock into the business from 14 suppliers, on the largest department within ASOS own buy. I was responsible for developing a new critical path as there was not one present on the department when I first started. It was often only myself and the Buyer on the department which usually consists of 5 buying staff therefore more responsibility was inevitable.

I do feel I have learnt a vast amount during this placement – at times being the only one on the buying side in the office on that department and having to deal with all manner of queries without assistance from a line manager or supervisor. I was very much thrown in at the deep end and although very stressful, it did force me to independently learn the job inside out! I did not receive much training – HR tried to offer training sessions but most of these were cancelled. I maybe attended 2 over the 12 month period neither of which were very valuable or will aid me in my degree studies. There were also times where I could have attended training but my manager asked me not to as there was too much work to do on the department. This experience has been eye opening and will definitely aid me in developing/choosing my career in the future.

The office as a whole was constantly busy and we were always communicating with people from other departments and areas of the business and it was enjoyable to have such a wide range of people to speak to - some good friends have been made at ASOS. On another note, the department I was on in particular always had a negative vibe around it purely due to the massive workload and not enough staff – everyone felt overworked and stressed. It could become quite miserable to be there at times.

When we first started we were told we would be given a ‘buddy’ to help us through the placement and also have regular meetings with HR. Neither of these occurred and we were pretty much left to our own devices and had little to no contact with HR/ the staff overseeing the interns.

It seems they did have loads of training organised for the interns to begin with but when it came to the day/closer to the training it was always cancelled. There was a BA/MA development day – both permanent staff and interns attended, although great that this was organised it wasn’t very structured in the end and we were promised detailed feedback on our performance which was never received so impossible to take anything from it!

I will not be returning to this company.

I caught up with the other interns regularly to compare experiences, occasionally we would go for drinks. Within the department we would go for drinks after a range sign off as a kind of celebration - this is every 6 weeks.

I was already living in London as a student before working at ASOS therefore it was probably less expensive for me purely from knowing the area better. London is expensive for drinking/eating/renting in general.

Camden - quite a few music venues and bars around.

Not organised by ASOS but yes there is plenty to do outside of work - it is London!.