Section Manager (Womenswear and Customer Services) Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at John Lewis. Everyone I met from partners and management with in my own branch to partners within Head Office and other branches were there to ensure I had everything I needed. They made me feel like I had a valuable place within the business and this helped me to enjoy every aspect of my placement.

My colleagues went above and beyond to ensure I felt valued whether that meant a quick email to thank me for my help and hard work or thanking me as a wider leadership team for everything I had done. My colleagues understood that I was learning so needed help with certain areas of my work and they made me feel totally relaxed in asking any of them for help and advice. They showed how much they valued me by inviting me to external socials and events out of normal business hours to ensure I felt part of the John Lewis family.

I began my placement at a tough time for my department when a large project had just begun which took a lot of focus off me starting. Despite the team not having as much time to dedicate to me they made it clear if I needed anything they was always there for me. As my placement continued I got more support and guidance as I started to grow and get more involved in larger projects around the branch.

Working in a branch this completely varies, at peak trade especially around Christmas the store was extremely busy from opening to closing with little time to do anything other than manage on the shop floor. During the quieter times you have time to focus on other more personal goals which may involve meetings, organising mini projects and analysing and seeing how you can improve results on your department. There is always something that can be done and there are always partners that need to be managed and customers that need to be served so there is never a dull moment. You are given the freedom and flexibility to make your days as busy as you want them to be dependent on the demands of the store and your department.

At the start of my placement I was not given much responsibility as it was essential that I understood the basics of the branch and how the management team work. This varied for all the placement students with some going in immediately as managers and others not. As I had already worked in retail for at least 4 years I knew that my responsibility needed to be changed. I spoke to my line manager about this and from then onwards my responsibility grew more and more. It was challenging as a younger member of the team to ensure customers and partners understood that I was a manager but in the final 6 months of my placement I felt I was a section manager who had a responsibility to run the department just as any other managers working along side me. With this confidence I noticed that others would give me more responsibility as they knew I was able to handle the pressure.

As my degree was retail based and my degree is heavily analytical based I do not think I will be able to use many skills directly but my placement has offered me confidence in the workplace and a better understanding of the real world. I think I have gained endless skills that will be useless when applying for a grad scheme or for any job in the future. I have examples of dealing with situations that not many other people my age will have been able to experience as a manager therefore this placement may not assist me much with my degree but will assist me majorly when applying and getting jobs after University.

Extremely positive and supportive. During more stressful periods such as Christmas the team find a way to keep the mood up and as a whole branch you feel like you are part of one big family.

Generally I believe the placement could have been a lot more organised as all branches had the flexibility to do what they wanted with the placement. This is good in some ways but this meant that all placement students had a completely different experience and this hindered some of us from developing as quick. This is the main area that the placement needs to be improved as it made the time in the branch more challenging as you had no formal structure for what you was doing or aiming for.

Four development days throughout the year with all placement students at the Waitrose Head Office in Bracknell that cover everything from personal branding to practice interviews. You can also attend management training and workshops that improve your leadership and retail skills. As long as you are pro active the training and development opportunities are endless, the company will support you in achieving everything you want from the placement and more.

Fast track to various grad schemes is offered to placement students who achieve a 'Good' or above in their end of year appraisal.