Commercial Placement Review

The TUI placement scheme was one which I enjoyed from the very start, to the end. It was very rewarding in so many different aspects, and this is something that I am excited to take forward with me. I definitely did not expect to gain so much from my year in industry, at TUI.

I always felt like a valued member of the team, where my opinions were always heard and reflected on. I was never treated any differently to the 'regular' members of the team, and felt very well thought of by my managers. I got on very well with my colleagues, which definitely helped my time throughout.

Both my line manager and my general manager were incredibly supportive, and I felt that they were notably working with my best interests at heart. I was always pushed to deliver more, and reach higher targets, and not settle. My manager was highly experienced, and therefore this allowed me to learn from his expertise and really push forward in my own development.

I was extremely busy! The role I was put into, was simply the role of an every day employee, so was not watered down due to the fact I was a placement student. There were times where it almost felt too busy, however this is definitely something that helps me personally work well, so I was grateful for the busy and fast paced nature of my role.

Similar to my answer above, the level of responsibility was huge! I was responsible for millions of pounds worth of committed hotels, stretched across a wide variety of different destinations. This responsibility was heightened by the support from my manager, who entrusted me to take on more responsibility as the placement year went on.

My job has really improved my time management skills, which is something I previously struggled with at University. I am confident that when I return to my studies, I will be in a position to really prioritise my work in the best order, and manage my time effectively. In addition, I have really had lots of opportunities to present and develop my skills in this area, which will inevitably help me progress in both my degree studies and further on in my career.

The atmosphere is very friendly, and there is a lot of social events that go on throughout the year. The open plan office was really good, and we work in 'pods' within our department, meaning you can always be socialising with a different group of people on a day to day basis.

The placement learning and development team for the placement scheme within TUI is amazing. They are so supportive, and invested in ourselves as students, that everything was always organised to perfection! I don't think the current cohort would have enjoyed their year as much as we have, without the team that organised the work placement.

The whole year is based around a framework, that can allow you to progress from assistant level to executive level, if you are to return to the business. My manager invested a lot of time into my personal training and development, and this was a continuous thing across the whole 12 months.

Future employment prospects are really appealing, and I am definitely in a position to want to return to the business once I have graduated. The organisation shows lots of areas for development in many different sectors, not just the department I initially worked in, so this is encouraging in regards to the long term development and career prospects.

The social scene was great. We had many different evening and weekend events across the whole year, and we really bonded as a placement team. We had a great 10 year anniversary party where many years of previous placements returned. In addition, we had a great Christmas party, and also have a big social event when we leave.

Living was fairly cheap due to the location, and this was something we were really pleased about, as it meant we got a really nice house for a good price. As we went into London most weekends, socialising was fairly expensive, but this didn't bother any of us as the night life/day time activities were so good!

As above, we mainly went out into different areas than the one we worked in, in and around the general London area. However, the nights out were always really great, and we had many different social events spread across many different venues, meaning we didn't miss out on the Uni social life!

There were lots of opportunities to do so. TUI is a company that really likes to get involved in charity events, so we had lots of different group events that took place throughout the year, such as a rounders tournament and a sports day. We also took it upon ourselves a lot to organise different things.