Partnerships Executive Review

People in the company are very welcoming and friendly, so I always had fun with them at work. Some aspects of the job were less enjoyable, such as the level of administration jobs, which could be frustrating. However, I really enjoyed the account management and sales side of the role and it isn't something I had considered before I got the job here but is definitely something I'd think about going into in the future.

The people I work closely with have always been thankful for any work I do for them or for anything I help out with. I couldn't have asked for a better team to be part of and I've become good friends with them all.

There is support in the sense that my line manager is very open to us bringing up any issues we're having and encourages us to shout up if we're struggling to keep on top of a large amount of work. However there are areas which could do with improvement such as more regular reviews and a better training scheme.

It varied from day to day but there was never a time I had nothing to do; there were always jobs I had been meaning to do for a while that I could focus on during a quieter time. Other periods could be manic and I've gained a lot of prioritisation skills as a result of this.

I had my own list of tasks that needed to be carried out either on a daily or weekly basis, which gave me a fair level of responsibility as I needed to make sure things appeared on site smoothly. I was also in charge of a list of accounts whom I would sell our advertising placements to - this was a lot of responsibility as there's a focus on sales but the main focus is on building strong and long-lasting relationships with our clients.

I've learnt a lot about the affiliate marketing industry which is a very specific area of marketing and is quite big with retailers at the moment as shoppers look for the cheapest deals - this has definitely allowed me to understand an area I wasn't familiar with and will give me a good basis for finding a job after I graduate. I also believe I've gained life skills and professional skills and matured in both areas over the year, which will definitely help me through my final year of university.

The office is fairly relaxed but coming into such an atmosphere straight from uni means it takes some time to learn where the lines are - obviously the company don't want to be under the impression you are wasting work hours! Once this is understood though it's a great atmosphere as everyone is so friendly, I've had a lot of laughs over the year!

I spent 2 weeks gradually learning more and more about the admin side of the role, which is carried out on a very specific database system, so this training gave me a good base knowledge, although there were obviously things I would learn later on throughout the year as well. There wasn't any training on the sales/account management side of the job which would have helped out a lot if I had a basic understanding of this before being handed accounts.

The company paid for me to go down to London for meetings with my clients on a few occasions which was always a good experience! I was also always given constructive feedback on my presentation skills and slides after every meeting which helped. In terms of development, I only had 3 reviews over the year which were meant to be quarterly, so this could have been organised a bit better to ensure maximum growth. There weren't really any other protocols put in place for development, although I do believe I've developed massively over the year without anything else!

Although I'm based in Stafford, most of the sales (partnerships) team is based in London, which is something I would be interested in going into. However, my main interests lie with marketing and that is based in Stafford and I'm not sure I would come back to live here.

Yes - we organised a few nights out in Derby, Stoke and and Stafford. There are also table tennis tables in the canteen so we all socialised with each other during breaks and lunch.

Taxis are unbelievably expensive, and some of the bars can be too. However there are a few cheap places that we often went for a drink to after work. Other than that prices of living are fairly standard.

It is what you make of it - the clubs and bars in Stafford aren't great (although there are quite a few choices of pubs/bars, but only 2 clubs) but we've all had some really good nights out, so it doesn't really matter what the places are like as long as you're with people you can have a laugh with.

I helped organise the Christmas social and also helped with the move when we moved our office from Uttoxeter to Stafford.