Allocation Analyst Review

The placement surpassed my expectations, as I received a lot of responsibility and freedom in my role. The company has a great culture and makes it a nice environment to work in. People are very friendly and encourage you to be creative in your role, so that not every day is the same.

A felt very valued by my colleagues. I worked in a close team and every body was valued for the work that they did. Also, working with different functions meant I could feel valued by a wider range of people. It was nice to know my work has made an impact.

There is an open door policy which means there is no hierarchy. I was able to talk to anyone in the company for help and advice, no matter what their job role was. I also had a direct manager who I could always chat to whenever for support and advice.

Some days were busier than others, but generally it was easy to find things to do. You had to drive your own tasks and be self motivated a lot of the time. It can also depend on your team as to how busy you are, because the expectations may be different.

I got a lot more responsibility than I expected. I got to make a real impact on the business by coming up with my own ideas, carrying them out and seeing what the results were. It was encouraged to try something new and take risks in the role, so I was not restricted.

This placement has helped with soft skills such as communication, interpersonal skills and networking. It has also helped with academic skills such as problem solving, being adaptive, numerical skills and initiative. I can take all of these skills forward into my final year at university to help with my degree.

The atmosphere was friendly and social. It did not feel too corporate which was good and you could be yourself with your colleagues. The office was quite laid back and it was encouraged not to just sit at your desk all day, but instead to get up and talk to others and get away from the desk sometimes.

Overall it was organised well, with a clear structure of time training, in merchandising and in buying. However, it would have been better for the buying section to be during a time where buyers were not on holiday a lot. Also, certain events could have been organised better like the store immersion which ended up being about 3 months later than planned.

The company invested a lot in the placement students through training on the role, but also sessions about developing soft skills like emotional intelligence and communication. I also had a development plan and had regular meetings with my manager to go through personal development goals to help with my progression.

I am going to return to the company after finishing my degree which is a great opportunity. I did not realise when I applied that this was a possibility so it was a nice surprise and I look forward to returning. The company invests a lot in you so it makes sense.

It can often depend on where the placement students are living because everyone seems to live all over. If you live nearby it is easier to meet up outside of work. Also, on Fridays we would often go to the pub to catch up which was nice, so it was quite social.

The area is quite expensive because it is on the outskirts of London, but no way near as expensive as London. Also, the train links to London were great because you can use Oyster so it is cheap to get into London. Restaurants and bars in the evening were not too expensive.

The nightlife is okay - there are a lot of different bars and recently a lot more cocktail bars/restaurants have opened which is good. There is a big nightclub there and also some smaller ones which are okay. There are two whetherspoons which is good for cheap drinks and nights out.

There were not many opportunities. There were not many sports clubs through the company which would have been nice. I think there was a football team though. There is a gym that has recently opened but I never went to that, but it also had classes you could do un and around work hours.