Assistant Branch Merchandiser Review

The people in my team were great, they were extremely helpful and also made the job fun. I learnt a great amount about how a clothing retailer works and gained an insight into the fashion industry.

The people I work with are very much a team, I'm going to miss them a lot when I return to university!

I sat next to my line manager so she taught me the majority of the job and and gave constant support and guidance. Not only did I gain a great colleague but also a great friend!

Working on menswear gave me the opportunity to learn the job role and responsibilities before moving to ladieswear which is much more fast paced. At times there is a lot of work to do but it is crucial that you learn to manage your time and prioritise jobs. I also feel asking for help when you need it is extremely important.

I was in charge of the allocation and availability of (whilst on menswear) Boston Crew, Mens Underwear, Nightwear & Slippers and then also Mens Tailoring and Shirt & Ties when a member of the team was moved to a different department. Whilst on ladieswear I was in charge of Accessories, Formalwear, Babs H and the Be Seen In collections and had full responsibility of stock flow to stores for these areas. I also had to oversea the stock build for 2 new stores, this involved solo trips to these stores to ensure they had the correct stock package as well as the correct quantities.

It has given me a fantastic insight into how a clothing retailer works, as well as learning transferable skills like time management, prioritising tasks and learning t work as part of a large team.

George is an extremely social and friendly company and the office always feel open and friendly. Once a year they hold an activity day, I took part in the George Olympics and The George Sports Day. Also as a branch merchandising team we go out for lunch together on payday and vote for a colleague of the month.

Some of the admin and tasks tat were arranged for me were not followed up and I felt the HR team weren't as organised for our arrival as I had hoped. My line manager and the Branch Merchandising team had training already set in place for me.

I was offered a contract to go back after graduating university!

There were 10 placement students, I lived with 3 of them so got on well with them but it was hard to arrange things outside of work as the other girls lived quite far away.

I lived in Lutterworth for the majority of my placement which is a VERY small town, our rent was pretty cheap as we rented a four bedroom house and split the cost between us. If you wanted to live nearer to shops/bars/restaurants Leciester would be the best place, however, I think the cost of rent would be much higher. We viewed a house that was the same price as the house we rented which had 3 bedrooms (we would have had to convert one of the downstairs lounges into bedroom), 1 horrible bathroom, damp and no parking.

Again, Lutterworth is a very small town, it is not the place to be if you want good nightlife!!