Digital Marketing Commercial Trainee Review

My year on placement has generally been very enjoyable. Being my first professional role, there was a great deal to learn about the role itself but also about office working life as well. I was on-boarded and trained sufficiently and within 2 months was comfortable in the role. Usually, the work is varied and challenging enough to remain enjoyable however I occasionally have days that feel a little repetitive and boring.

I feel very valued by my colleagues. It is a mixed age team with some highly experienced members. They are friendly and supportive, yet challenge me and give me advice on areas I could improve. They also occasionally give me more general career related advice which I find very useful hearing from those who have worked for 30+ years. All I would say is that sometimes when I complete a very basic task, I am praised greatly by some colleagues in an almost patronizing way and it makes me feel as if I'm incapable of doing more difficult tasks.

I am very happy with the level of support I receive from my supervisor. I have twice-weekly meetings with them in which I can share what I have been working on and I am given constructive feedback. I feel comfortable asking for more work and would be comfortable voicing if I felt bogged down with work. I would however like to have been challenged a little more in the tasks I am given.

I find that projects come in streams and thus the amount of work I have at a single time varies greatly. For the first few months of the placement there was definitely plenty to do, learning about the company and role itself on top of tasks I was given. Later, I found that there were some days where I had very little to do and at some points found myself sitting around killing time. Over the year, I have been increasingly trusted with more work so have these days less often. When I do find myself having not a lot to do, I know now that there is plenty training and individual learning I can do.

As mentioned previously, my level of responsibility has gradually increased over time as I can be trusted more with greater responsibility. That said, I have never felt truly challenged and pushed by the level of responsibility and I would have liked to be.

I have found that naturally over the year my interpersonal skills have developed greatly, particularly my confidence to approach and question others and to take the lead on things where I feel I should. More specifically, my excel and data analysis skills have also improved a lot.

The company has quite a friendly culture in that people feel comfortable communicating between groups etc. When I started however I was not really introduced to the majority of the office and therefore for the rest of the year I have found it difficult approaching people and introducing myself when I need to work with someone. This however could be just a personal thing. Within my team there is a playful yet hardworking atmosphere which I think is ideal as a working environment.

My individual role felt well set up, my supervisor knew what I needed to get set up and trained in and was happy on-boarding me. For the more general placement set up though, it seemed less organised. As part of my induction I was given training sessions on things that I have not once needed to use during my placement year.

Role specific training and development has been useful. My supervisor always thinks to involve me in anything that may develop me as an individual. As this is my first role, I would have liked to have been offered training in more transferable skills to improve my employability however I understand a company doesn't always have the resources to offer that sort of thing.

There are a number of graduate roles available at the company and as placements we have been offered advice on preparing for the application process. My supervisor has also offered to provide a reference for me. However, personally I would like to try working in a different size company in a different sector to see how I like that so I won't be looking at immediate employment prospects with the organisation.

Yes very good. Even before we had started, there was a Facebook page set up so we could discuss living arrangements. We spoke to each other during the induction sessions and began to arrange activities and nights out even in the first week. As a group we get on very well and even ended up going away together a few months into the placement. The placement groups spreads across different functions so its interesting to hear about what others are doing and can be useful when you need the help from someone in a different function.

Being from the North, I found living in Reading much more expensive than where I am from.

Reading and Maidenhead both have a good range of bars to suite all tastes however if you wanted to go clubbing you'd be much more drawn to taking a train to London.

Yes, there are emails and notices of charity opportunities and family activities.