Industrial Placement, Procurement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement - I was given so many opportunities to learn and develop, my work made a significant contribution to the team which was rewarding, and I got to work in a supportive and fun team.

My manager put a lot of trust in me from an early stage and the same can be said for the rest of my team. I was given work to do by various members of the team which were interesting and fun for me as well as helpful to the them. I always felt that my hard work and results were appreciated. Being given my own project work to do made me feel valued and was a big confidence boost.

I had the support of my whole team and colleagues elsewhere in the department when I had questions or needed guidance. I was encouraged to ask questions, give feedback or challenge in a constructive way. My line manager in particular was hugely supportive from the beginning and never failed in giving me help or advice when needed. We had weekly catch ups to talk through work as well as throughout the week. Other managers and colleagues in the department also took the time to help me out with work and give me advice.

In the first 2 months there were some days where I didn't have much to do however this soon picked up as I learned to do my role more independently. On average I always had a full to do list, some of which was more time-pressured. Having said that there was not so much that I missed deadlines or felt under too much pressure.

After settling into the original role description of a placement student in Procurement quickly, my manager decided to increase my levels of responsibility. After a few months I was responsible for chairing meetings, running tender negotiations, leading supplier communication on large projects and various other tasks. I was also given projects of my own to manage which was hugely exciting and a chance for me to 'own' a project and see it through. I had the support of my manager to achieve this. I also volunteered for several department initiatives to get more involved. This included being on the team day organizing committee, working on a transformation project for the department and receiving training to be a Google Guide and assist my colleagues when we migrated from one email system to Google Mail.

My degree subject is mathematics and it certainly helped me in my role in Procurement to have a logical head, however my placement hasn't directly influenced my degree studies as yet. More importantly, my placement has has a hugely positive effect on my work ethic, commitment to my studies and has given me thoughts for future career paths, how I might get there and who I can turn to for support. My confidence, communication skills and level of ambition have all seen a great improvement. The training and experiences I had during my placement will help me when applying for future roles and in my day to day life at university.

For half the year I sat with my immediate team which was fun bit could get quiet If they weren't all in. Later in the year we moved to a hot desk set up which proved a success for the whole department as we all got to know each other better. There was always a fairly relaxed and social atmosphere.

I worked in the same location as another ten or so placement students. We attended induction and development sessions throughout the year which were fairly interesting.

As well as development days with fellow placement students, I attended training days with my team for example a Myers Briggs training day. A lot of colleagues algal gave me on the job training using our systems. I also took an online course in advanced Microsoft Word and Excel.

The graduate schemes for the John Lewis Partnership look very interesting and have a great reputation. In general I think a position in the organisation would be a great career prospect and very appealing.

I worked in the Partnership Services division of the company,whereas other placement students worked in Waitrose, John Lewis or the Group divisions . I had some opportunities to socialise with them however I actually spent much more time with my department colleagues. I thoroughly enjoyed this and went to various team days, social events etc.

I lived close to Bracknell so I lived at home during placement. When we socialised we generally went to London which can be expensive however I wasn't expected to pay large amounts.

We chose to go out for socials on days we were in London as thus gave us a wide variety of choice. Bracknell is quite an industrial area so there aren't many places to socialise.

I am a member of the John Lewis Partnership Music Society and perform with them several times a year in the UK and abroad. This is one of several clubs and societies in the Partnership.