Sales, Planning and Reporting Review

I have really enjoyed my placement year. I have learnt a lot, I had the chance to meet great people and I worked hard and as a result I developed a lot of new skills and abilities whichi will be extremely useful not only for my experience in University but in the Business world too. It has been a lot of hard work but I have learnt that as long as you are enthusiastic and motivated to learn and do more, there is always support for you to do so.

I have always felt valued not only because my role included distribution of critical information that people rely on but also because people knew I was competent enough to be asked questions and to be asked for support as a representative from my department. My colleagues also valued me and looked at me as a real part of the team, asked me on my opinion on projects and other work related topics as well as trusted me to support their projects. I always felt needed.

I have always been supported by both my manager and my mentor. Bi-monthly meetings helped me keep my mentor up to date with all my work and project I have been working on. There has always been sufficient communication which enabled me to share potential issues at the work place and help me get the guidance to resove them.

I was relatively busy all the time. Except for my daily duties I have been given various projects to work on and have always been pushed to see and do more. I have had experiences with colleagues from different departments observing whta they do as well as I have given introduction to what I do to fellow colleagues. I have noticed, however, that the more you are motivated to do, the more there is for you to engage with.

The fact that I loved the most about my placement is that I have always been given real responsibility. I was in charge of creating important reports that were then distributed to various people and departments throughout the company. I have been given as a reference for the "specialist" in the field and people asked me different questions which the expertise I have gained in the previous months has helped me answer. Thus, I always felt as I was of help and felt valued.

I have developed various skills through my daily tasks but also in the long run I managed to improve my business understanding just given the opportunity to observe how a company of such scale is being managed. There were constatly meetings, workshops etc. that I have been involved with and this enabled me to become more confident in communication, presentation skills and even in my own personal abilities.

Atmosphere has been great! As much as it was hard work, there is always laughter and a brief distraction every day. The team became very close and we have had various team building events that got us even closer. The management has also been involved in these which made the hierarchy bounderies fade and you have the chance to meet everyone outside the office and get to know them.

Placement was organized well. I have had my targets and long term goals set up and were what I have been aiming to achieve throughout the year. I knew what my tasks and duties were, I knew who to refer to having faced an issue and always was supported by my manager and mentor. Interns community was also great and we were all engaged to do interesting events and experience more whilst with the company.

I have developed a lot of skills that I haven't had before. A lot of this was due to my personal engagement and motivation to learn. However, the company supported me in getting the most out of a great opportunity there was and I am more than happy I had the chance to do so as this experience gave me a feeling of another perspective of the company. For one reason or another, I didn't get the chance to get training for my job (which is more technical) but I was motivated to take my own time to learn a lot which I can tel was much appreciated.

If you are performing great in your placement year and you are keen on joining for the Graduate Scheme, you will be warmly welcomed to do so. However, the process of applying does not take into account your previous experiences with the company i.e. this will not give you a step ahead over other candidates. The people are carefully recruited taking into account how well they fit into the company and the respective job. Of course, having experience is an advantage as you can get a good reference and be recommended as a good candidate but this should not be the only thing you rely on when applying for Graduate Scheme/Permenanent position. However, a high proportion of the current employees have started as interns or graduates within the company so the general correlation is positive.

Yes! Firstly, within the department and secondly, within the interns community.

The area is not particularly expensive and living is manageable even with the salary of an Intern.

There are plenty of pubs and bars to go to but for people who are loving a club it is not ideal. However, rlatively near to Chichester is Portsmouth where you can find variety of clubs and bars and better nightlife in general.

There are plenty of clubs and societies in the area and depending on what your personal interests are you will be able to join the respective one. I have been to variety of classes throughout the eyar including dance, box fit, badminton etc. There is even a great planetarium in the area for all astronomy lovers.