Retail Management (Assistant Section Manager) Review

For the most part I absolutely loved my placement year, so much so that I agreed to work an extra two weeks after my placement finished (paid of course!) to help my branch out. It was a valuable experience that I would recommend to anyone and Waitrose is a great company to work for.

On the whole I felt very valued by all my colleagues, managers and Partners alike. I felt that my opinions were always listened to and respected and my decisions supported. I definitely felt that I had a specific role rather than being a extra in branch which was a concern at the beginning.

My direct managers were great, always there to provide support and had so much experience that I could learn from. I also got lots of feedback, mostly in a informal way but I also had appraisals and help creating and updating a personal development plan.

Generally very busy, as you would expect in a fast moving retail environment, but this was normally manageable. Personally, this was ideal for me as I would much rather have plenty to do that not enough - it was certainly never boring! Peak times such as Christmas were more challenging and due to some technical problems in branch far more stressful and much less enjoyable. However, I think this was just unlucky, I'm sure if the problems hadn't occurred it would have been a lot of fun.

I think this would vary depending on your branch and how much responsibility you wanted to take on. There was always people around who were more than happy to give advice and pass on their experience so I never really felt too out of my depth.

The biggest thing I will take away from this experience is the hands on managerial experience gained which will be useful when applying to grad schemes and future jobs. Unlike the vast majority of other placements, including the Waitrose head office schemes, I was given the opportunity to be the direct line manger of a number of Partners, enabling me to realise and develop my leadership style as well as to focus the development of others. This was probably the most challenging but rewarding part for me as people, generally a lot older than myself would look to me for guidance and advice. I think it has helped me to mature a lot this year and hopefully this will help me in my final year at uni.

My office was my branch so there was always a great atmosphere, relaxed and fun. As there were always so many people around there was never a dull moment!

As I was working in branch rather than head office I sometimes felt a bit isolated from the goings on at head office and the course supervisors. There was little support or guidance from them other than the 4 development days. There was little guidance at the beginning of the placement especially, which meant there was some ambiguitiy as to what my role entailed at the beginning and I did not know what to expect. This was not a problem for me as I knew what I wanted to get out of my year but it could have been if my branches/managers weren't so good.

There were 4 development days as part of the placement year which were well organised and fairly useful - included interview and presentation skills. My branch were also keen for me to go on courses to improve my skills and there was the opportunity to do more if I had wanted.

The John Lewis partnership is a great company and one that I would love to work for in some capacity in the future.

As I was working in branch there was little interaction with the other placement students other than the one on my scheme. It was nice to keep in touch to share experiences and any concerns. I think it would have been different if I had worked in head office as most of the placement students lived together but this was not an issue for me.

I lived at home during my placement year which enabled me to save a fair amount of money which was great. Also all my home friends lived locally when they weren't at uni so there were always people around.

Not very good but as it was my home town I expected this and I just visited friends at uni on my weekends off for nights out.

There were a few opportunities for work events such as fundraising and team buildings day but these were few and far between. However, the Partnership offers a variety of subsidies (e.g. Learning a new skill/sport or going to see a concert) as part of the benefit package which are great.