Communications Assistant Review

I absolutely loved my placement at Waitrose. I learned so much about the communications industry and worked on lots of great campaigns, projects and events. The team I worked with were so knowledgeable, friendly and supportive and all ensured I had the best year possible. My workload was varied and interesting and I had the opportunity to work in the different areas of communication including – consumer PR, corporate PR, public affairs and internal communication – providing me with a fantastic insight into communications from the perspective of a national brand.

I felt very valued by the team throughout the year and was never made to feel like ‘the intern’. Although they were all very busy, they always made time for me and involved me in projects they were working on as well as helping me with my own work when I needed it. They were also a very friendly and sociable team making them good company to work with every day.

My immediate team were so supportive throughout my year and ensured I was involved with lots of great projects and that I was getting on fine with everything, providing help when necessary. I also had regular meetings with my line manager, mentor and people in HR who set up development days for all placement students.

I was consistently busy throughout my year and there were never occasions where I had very little to do. I was particularly busy around certain events and campaigns during my time there however I was never overworked and my colleagues were always happy to help me when I had a lot on. There were a few occasions I stayed late to complete work and found myself working at home - however this was very rare.

Throughout my placement I was given a lot of responsibility which although was stressful at times – ultimately it was very rewarding to have great feedback on projects and pieces of work I was responsible for. I was also in control of the amount of responsibility I was given, as the team would always discuss with me if I had capacity to take on more work and responsibility before setting me larger projects or pieces of work.

As the communications placement was highly applicable to my PR degree, the skills I developed whilst on placement will be massively beneficial to me in the final year of my studies and onto employment once I graduate. The type of work I completed and projects I was involved in was highly varied, interesting and provided a great insight into the industry. The scheme also places a large emphasis on development and I had regular meetings with my line manager, mentor and HR to ensure I was getting the most out of my time working there.

The office had a good balance of being lively and fun most of the time with some periods of being a bit quieter and more laid back. Although there were lots of occasions where the team were very busy and had to deal with certain issues and enquiries very quickly, the atmosphere was consistently friendly.

The placement was very well organised and it was arranged so that I could spend time working in different areas of communications. I also had regular meetings scheduled with my line manager and mentor – both of whom were very helpful in arranging my placement schedule and organising things for me to get involved in. There were a few occasions where I felt I didn’t know what was expected of me, however on the whole, the experience was very well organised and the structure of it worked really well.

I found that the Partnership were very encouraging of personal development – particularly with the students. We had frequent meetings with managers and the personnel team to ensure we were getting everything we could out of the experience and developing where possible. Additionally, in my team specifically we were notified of any relevant training days or courses on a weekly basis and were encouraged to attend any that were of interest.

I would happily work for the company again in the future as I found them to be a great business to work for, particularly because of its structure and the fact that employees are ’Partners’ in the business and are treated as such. However, because they are such a good company to work for I think opportunities for progression are potentially more difficult to come by as their turnover of people is very low.

I lived with five other students who were on the Waitrose industrial placement scheme and we did a lot of stuff together as a house, with other students often coming along to drinks and meals after work etc. The year I joined, Waitrose took on around 15 students so there was a good number of people to socialise with.

I lived in Reading during my placement year and found rent to be quite expensive compared to what I was used to paying as rent is considerably cheaper up North where I go to university. The cost of socialising varied quite a lot – some places we went were very expensive and some were much cheaper.

I didn’t like Reading nightlife at all –I thought it was rubbish. I don’t think there were many places to choose from and I didn’t really like the bars and clubs that are there. To me they seemed really expensive but that may be because as a student you can go out during the week where drinks and entry is really cheap but when you’re on placement you have to go out on weekends.

I think the business has lots of clubs and societies you can join – I didn’t join any personally but there were quite a lot to choose from. The intranet has loads of information about different sporting and hobby societies you can get involved in. They have a gym onsite as well which is subsidised for people who work there.