Commercial Placement Review

I've thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at TUI, it has definitely exceeded my expectations. I've found it extremely valuable to work within the highly competitive & ever-changing travel industry, and working for the Market Leader has definitely enhanced this. TUI is such a fun company to work for, with a great social scene too!

As a Placement at TUI you are given exactly the same role and responsibility as any of your colleagues, something which gives you a great sense of achievement. I have felt very valued by my colleagues over the year, receiving exactly the same training, support and opportunities as my colleagues.

The Placement Scheme at TUI has a whole team dedicated to your learning & development, always ensuring you're able to get any support and guidance you might need. You are allocated a Buddy and a Mentor that are from another department that you can use to support you throughout the year. I also had reagular feedback & Catch-ups with my Manager & Senior Manager, ensuring any problems I had were addressed and that I was progressing as I'd like to.

As you are given a genuine & valuable role within the business, you're never without anything to do. Each day throws different tasks & challenges at you, keeping you busy and keeping things exciting. Certain times of the year are busier than others, but I have never been left to feel like I am dealing with too much on my own as my manager and team are always there to help & share the workload when needed.

I have been given a lot of responsibility on my placement year, something which I have found very valuable! You really are given the same level of responsibility of your colleagues and even have the added responsibility of high-level Placement Projects. In my day-to-day role I was given my own set of resort areas to look after and trade, meaning it was up to me to make key strategic decisions in order to improve sales & profitability.

I study Finance & Economics at University and my year at TUI has certainly given me an array of valuable skills to take back with me to finish my degree. I've gained an excellent insight into the workings of the commercial division & how things like business cases are developed and implemented etc. All of the skills I have learnt this year are extremely transferable and are sure to help me in my degree studies & beyond.

The office atmosphere is very fun, with something new & exciting happening all the time. I think a lot of this is down to what we do, creating and selling holidays is naturally exciting and this definitely shows in everyone in the office! Everyone is super helpful and will always put in time to help you if needed. There's also lots of fun social events to get involved in!

There is a large team who work to make the Placement scheme the big success it is. As well as the recruitment team who set up and run the whole application progress and the Comms team who shout about all of the great things that go on on the scheme, there's a dedicated Learning & Development team who are always there for support & have regular meetings to update us on things going on with the scheme.

TUI have placed a huge amount of time and focus on my training & development - something which I have valued highly. Right from a detailed 4-week training plan at the start, to various advanced training sessions throughout the year to further develop my skill set there has been many opportunities to learn and develop. I have also been having regular development catch-ups with my manager throughout the year to ensure I am developing as I'd like.

Future employment prospects at TUI are very appealing, it's a great company to work for! There are various Grad Schemes on offer as well as the potential opportunity of being offered the chance to return to your role after graduating university. I am very pleased that I have been successful in securing a role back at TUI for after university.

The department is quite a young department so there's always plenty of social events going on! There are multiple organised events during the year, including the Commercial conference in Salou, Spain! With the scheme being made up of 8 placements there's been plenty of spontaneous nights out or things to do.

Due to the close location to London the drinks prices can be fairly expensive, but there areas around the office in Luton that are relatively cheap to live so this can make up for it. The train fair into London is pretty cheap, making it a great location for a day/night out!

There are lots of different Night out options around the area e.g. Harpenden, St Albans & London - all located on the train line from Luton! Aside from London, the towns of Harpenden & St Albans are very nice places to go out with lots of great bars and restaurants.

There were various organised activities organised outside of working hours, ranging from Rounders events to a team afternoon out full of Inflatable activities. Aside from this I have also been arranging a weekly 5-a-side Football match which many people from around the business get involved in. The placement team also organize regular socials as a placement team.