Trainee Merchandiser Review

I really enjoy my job - I have had a good experience with being trained/interactions within my team and other teams within my department. I feel I have been given a good amount of responsibility and have progressed well for the timing - I have been giving the responsibility doing a project on sizing.

Yes - I feel I am better able to work with numbers, and I have build on my pre-existing analytical skills. I feel I have also learnt a lot about working in an office environment, which is a skill that I have previously underestimated. I have also noticed that my analytical skills have improved.

The company culture is excellent - they promote a great work/life balance and are flexible about working hours/working from home if needed. They are understanding if mistakes are made in the beginning and view it as a learning process rather than something you should be penalised for. I feel settled in to my team.

The college element of the programme is not very well organised - assignments aren't clear, both in terms of what we have to complete and deadlines. We aren't given the tools we need to complete assignments - for example, an assignment required photoshop and neither college nor work provided it. We were not supported at all with this - we weren't given an extension, or helped with alternative methods for us to access photoshop (we suggested an extra college day, this was denied).

I feel well supported within my team - my manager and other members of my team are incredibly supportive. I have given a lower rating as I feel HR don't have any visibility within the office/it is not easy to contact them. There have been instances where I have tried to contact them but have been unable to get the contact details for a HR person, and they have no presence in the office anymore.

I feel unsupported - we are given assignments we are unable to complete due to not having the tools (i.e. photoshop). We were not given an extension, or allowed to spend a day in college where we wouldn't have lessons so we could complete the project. This is one example of many where I feel unsupported.

I feel that this varies lesson by lesson, module by module. Some modules we have industry specialists who are great at teaching, other modules seem unorganised and tutors are unable to answer questions. I find that hearing the experiences of industry specialists are very helpful in my role and help me to be more commercial. The content is mostly helpful for the role I do and I put it into practice, often.

There are extra-curricular activities but it's difficult to get involved as they are all based in the main Welwyn site, rather than the Hatfield site where we are based. It's a shame that we are unable to access the activities, as they do look really fun and it would be good to network across wider Tesco.

Yes

It's a great place to work - it has a really good company culture, good work-life balance and they are flexible and understanding when necessary. The work is enjoyable and varied and I think we are given more responsibility than we would at another company working the same job role.

Be thorough with the application process - it is long but try to complete it all to a high standard! At the assessment day try to show your personality and enthusiasm for the role, and try to demonstrate a good understanding of what the role will involve. Try to get involved in team tasks and speak up.