Retail Operations Placement Review

I have really enjoyed my placement. I have been given responsibility from the beginning of the placement which has allowed my business skills to improve massively.

I feel extremely valued by my colleagues, as I work in a small department I have a lot of responsibility and therefore have to be organised in order to fulfil the needs of the department.

I was trained at the beginning by the undergraduate I was replacing and then I was given on-going support and training from my manager throughout the placement.

I would say I had a perfect balance. My days vary massively due to the different tasks I work on however this always means I have work to do,

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. For example if my manager was off I would be the only one in the office and would have to keep on top of any queries our customers had as well as getting my tasks for the day or week completed. I was also give projects to lead during my placement.

My business skills have improved massively due to the ERP system I work with, my customer service skills have improved and I feel a lot more confident in my overall business abilities. I also feel the training given by Goodyear Dunlop helped as I now feel confident in planning and leading a project. The skills I have developed such as my organisation, time management skills and communication skills will assist me in my final year at University and in a career following university.

Very good, everyone is friendly, helpful and makes an effort to get to know you.

Yes very well, the overlap with the past undergraduate meant I could be trained by them and the work I did will definitely help with my course back at university. The training I received from Goodyear Dunlop linked to the role as well as helped my improve my skills for the future.

The company gave me numerous opportunities to develop myself including training me on an ERP system, teaching me about how a franchise program runs and allowing me insight to different departments such as finance and marketing.

Extremely appealing, I would love to come back and work for Goodyear Dunlop.

Yes, there are currently 13 undergraduates so we would organise nights out between us. We would also eat lunch together every day.

I lived in a house share so the cost of living was extremely reasonable. However living in a city can mean that the socialising can be quite expensive, you just need to find the cheaper places.

Excellent, being in Birmingham you have lots of bars, clubs and restaurants around the city centre such as on Broad Street and in the Mailbox.

Yes, they have a work football team, there are constant events trying to raise money for Macmillan such as rounder's tournaments etc