Territory Merchandise Admin Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at Debenhams, and would definitely recommend it to other students looking for a placement. I feel like I learned a lot which will help me not only in my final year, but also in my future career. Doing a placement has boosted my confidence and I hope to return to Debenhams after completing my degree.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues, everyone was so friendly and helpful. I got treated just like any other employee, not just a ‘student’ and they all encouraged me with my personal development. I worked well with my team and knew that the work I was doing was really contributing to everyone’s overall goals.

My manager fully supported me throughout my placement year, we had regular catch-ups which meant I could talk to her about anything I was concerned with. It was also a good opportunity to bring up other areas of the business I was interested in. This meant I was able to gain some work experience in another department which I found to be particularly useful.

As with any job there are busy days and there are quieter days, but on the whole I was busy every day. Whether that be with tasks I was given and my own personal development and training. I think there may have been the odd day I was stressed because I had a lot to do, but other than that I was able to balance my workload.

I was given a lot of responsibility over my placement – I was the first point of contact for some of the partners. This meant I was able to build positive work relationships and gain more market specific knowledge. I felt like I was treated like a real member of the team and got the same responsibilities as someone else who had the same role as me.

I think the skills I developed over my placement year will definitely help me in my studies and further career. Many of the skills I developed and learned are transferable which means I will be able to use them in many areas of my life. Training, in particular the systems training I think will be invaluable – especially Excel/Outlook.

The atmosphere in the office was generally positive. As with any work place, there were times where people had a lot of work so the office was a lot quieter, however, this usually meant you had a lot of work to do too, so I didn’t mind too much. Me and the team I was on worked well together so always chatted and had a laugh.

As I was the first placement student in the role, the first few weeks weren’t too well organised, as I don’t think people realised when I was starting. This meant I didn’t have set tasks when I first joined, however, meant I got to understand and get to grips with the business, websites and systems that I would need to use. With time, it became clearer what I would be doing and what responsibilities I would have.

As soon as I joined I was encouraged to sign up to as much training as possible. I had the same access to the training as any other employee. I signed up to the majority of the training over the course of the year and I was able to develop skills I already had, as well as learn new ones.

As the first placement students in the role, I was unsure whether a job would be offered. However, at the end of the year my manager told me they would be offering me a position for when I graduate! Although it’s not guaranteed to be in the same division as my placement, I still feel like it’s a great opportunity.

There was a social committee set up for the placement students, as there were over 30 of us. A few events were set up so we could go, but turnout was pretty poor, and most people had already made their own friendship groups. Within my division there were 3 other placement students, and we all socialised together often.

Central London is inevitably expensive to live and go out in, however, I honestly think it’s all worth it. There are of course cheaper places to eat/drink in the evening so as long as you’re careful money isn’t too much of an issue.

There were several pubs/bars near my placement which meant there were always some options if people were going for after work drinks. Being so close to a tube station also meant it was easy to travel around if people wanted to go somewhere different. I don’t think there were any clubs near my placement.