Early Trading Assistant Review

It was a challenging year, but very enjoyable nonetheless. There were times when it felt like the best job in the world. However, during the busier periods it would test my will, but then it felt just as good to know I'd pushed through.

The team is very friendly and there are many ways to collaborate on tasks with your team members on a day-to-day basis. The good thing is that an assistant's opinion is valued just as much as that of people in more senior positions.

The managers in my team were very helpful, but it was also good to see that I was encouraged to demonstrate proactive behaviour by trying to cope with most of the tasks on my own and only asking for help when necessary.

This was a matter of personal preference as the nature of my job required lots of analysis, so essentially, it was up to me to decide how much time to spend on each task and to determine how in-depth my analysis needed to be.

Even though I was a placement, I was treated with respect and my opinion was valued just as much as that of other team-members in a full-time position. I was given a lot of guidance but two months in my placement I was making most of the major decisions about the resorts I was looking after.

I think it was very beneficial for me to do a placement year as it taught me essential transferable and people skills, as well as a lot of hands on experience. It was really good to relate all the business models and theories from my studies to a real business environment and observe the results of my actions in a real-life business setting.

The office was always buzzing and people were genuinely friendly and very helpful. There was always something going on in terms of workshops, presentations, department insight days, bake sales and social events.

The induction week, workshops and training sessions were all excellent and the structure of the placement year was very good, allowing students to really get to know the organisation inside and out. There were monthly placement meetings and even a conference abroad to experience the company's products.

For my mid-year review I received extensive feedback collated and summarised by an external agency; I also took part in a workshop in order to assess my working behaviour and I was provided with a full psychological profile with helpful advice on office dynamics, e.g. how to approach my opposite work type. In addition, here were numerous opportunities for me to attend insight sessions and days within other departments.

I would like to return to the company but I would also like to explore other roles than the one I was assigned during my placement.

There were lots of opportunities to go out at company staff parties, as well as team-organised activities.

You could grow tired of Luton but it was definitely a lot cheaper than any other town I've lived in.

There were a few bars in Luton itself, but mostly people would go to the neighbouring towns of Saint Albans and Harpenden. Ideally, a night out in London would be organised every now and then and it was only 40 minutes away on the train.

There were many openings for side projects around the business, as well as plenty external opportunities to get involved in charity work and volunteering.