UK Sales Consultant Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year, working in a market leading organisation, where no two days were the same. The company gave me the opportunity to work in a number of different areas which really allowed me to make the most of my short time with them.

You are treated very much as a full time employee, you are part of a small and dynamic team, who all work towards helping one another, and your work does not go unnoticed, as the top team workers were recognised in bi-weekly meetings. There is a real sense of "one team one dream" across the whole organisation.

Working across a number of different departments during my time at the company, I worked under a number of different managers/supervisors, all of which were more than happy to help and support me. Many of the managers really went the extra mile for me to ensure that I settled well into the team and was comfortable with the work I was doing.

The workload was very fair, If I found myself busy, I could always ask other members of my team for assistance, and If I found that I was quiet, there was always more work for me to take on.

As previously mentioned, I was treated very much as a full time member of staff, which meant that I was given a great amount of responsibility. I was given the opportunity to run my own projects, both individually and as part of a team, and was also given the opportunity to present these projects to senior figures in the organisation.

I believe, having had a well rounded experience of the whole organisation, working as part of the Sales, Customer Service and Finance teams, I have learned a number of transferable skills which will benefit me both next year, when studying at university, and also beyond that, in the future world of work too.

There was a real buzz throughout the office at all times, the organisational culture is quite unique, but is really effective. There are lots of opportunities to enjoy yourself, but at the same time, you know that there is work to be done. When targets are met, the atmosphere across the office is something special, and something I have not experienced in any past employment.

The placement was very well organised, there was a high structured 2 and a half week induction process, where we worked with the previous years students and full time members of staff to ensure we were ready for when the previous students left and we took over from them. There is also a degree of flexibility with the placement which allows you to work in departments other than the one you were originally employed by, this is something I took full advantage of, and I believe this allowed me to get the most out of my placement.

The company invested a great deal of time into my training and development, this was reflected by the fact they gave us a 2 and a half week induction once we joined, to ensure we were up to speed by the time we took over from the previous placement students. Further to this they also organised a number of trip to visit the venues we worked with, to ensure our product knowledge was good enough to sell with confidence.

Around 20 students, including myself moved to Windsor to take on the job. Having so many people you know living nearby made for a really good social scene, and created a nice atmosphere throughout the group. From a social side of things, there was no real distinction between the students and full timers, and many times, full timers would come and socialise with the students too.

Windsor is a very expensive place to live, compared at least to where I study. It can be difficult to find accommodation to suit a students budget in the area, therefore I would recommend organising accommodation as early as possible. There is a lot to do in the area from a social point of view, but again this can be quite pricey.

Not the best, but by no means the worst. It could be expensive at times though.

Yes, there were a number of opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work. I was a part of the weekly 5 a side football matches organised by colleagues. Further to this, the company also organise a number of social events across the year. These give you the opportunity to socialise with colleagues outside of work