Trainee Merchandiser Review

My role is as Trainee Merchandiser for the Home Accessories department. I have weekly involvement in Monday trade meetings where we review the previous weeks sales, successes and failures. I place orders and am the key contact to all the suppliers which I work with, this can involve helping them solve issues or helping them with their factory management by giving accurate forecasts. I am also responsible for managing promotions on my team where I track the success of price cuts and order the stock for these particular events.

I feel like I have developed my computer skills very well as my job involves email management, large use of excel and also internal programmes such as a Train website which runs reports for us. I have also improved my communication skills by talking to external Stakeholders, such as suppliers, and also talking to wider members of the team. This includes the buyers, store stock planning team and also supply chain. I have been on numerous external training courses however I feel some of these do not add much value to my day job as they can sometimes not feel relevant. I think it is important to decide which ones you feel would add value and are worth taking the time out of work for.

I thoroughly enjoy my programme however this is more linked to my day job and learning on the job with the help of my line manager and also my immediate team. I sometimes find the Early Careers training courses a bit worthless and feel I earn more from working in my day job and developing my skills in order to develop in my career. I feel it has met my expectations well as I have more responsibility in my day job than I originally expected, I don't feel like I am treated as an apprentice.

I feel extremely valued by Tesco as I feel they invest a lot of time in my training and also in my personal career development. I think the six monthly reviews are very useful in understanding where you are in terms of your development and what is required for you to do next in order to work towards a promotion. There is also a lot of internal recognition from my immediate line manager which helps to improve my motivation and my desires to develop in my career.

I feel my programme is poorly structured as each years intake it changes, so this year I have found myself on the same training as the new intake who have been here one year less than me which I can find demotivating. I also find it difficult to complete my Learn Direct assignments along side my day job, we are given study days to take however work commitments make it difficult to take these as the team is reliant on the workload I take on. I feel like we could also have more help and meetings with the Early Careers team.

I feel like we do not recieve much support from our training provider because marking our work takes a long time to complete and we usually recieve feedback and markings after we have begun the next project. I also find it frustrating that we can go to a development day and the content is very basic and the powerpoint can be limiting on information, so when we go to do the assignments we have to do further research. I feel like the dates for assignments could also be more catered around our work load.

I recieve a large amount of support from my employer, particularly my line manager as they help me to develop in my job role which is helping me to work towards a promotion. I feel like they also help with my motivation as we have regular catch ups and talks. They are supportive of my apprenticeship as they are happy to give me time to complete my work in working hours and they are also regularly asking how I am finding my workload and how well I am completing my apprenticeship assignments.

I feel like my salary does meet my costs however I have now been here a year and a half and have seen no increase in my pay that is in line with my increase in responsibility. I feel like as my work load has increased and I have become more of a stretch role within my team that I should have seen some benefits in my pay as I am no longer an entry member of the team. I also find it frustrating that the new intake of apprenticeships are coming in on the same pay that I am currently on, I feel like it would be beneficial to have a small pay rise after one year of completing the apprenticeship following by a second pay rise after we have completed our qualification.

There is a good social life outside of work within my team however this is more driven by us as individuals rather than Tesco as a business. There are not many clubs or activities to take part in outside of work as people are generally involved in these on their own and closer to their hometown. Around the office there is not a lot of activities to do however there are plenty of pubs and restaurants which are good for team lunches and after work drinks, especially in the summer. I think it is important to socialise with the team as this improves your enjoyment of work and can also improve your working relationships.

Yes

I find Tesco an extremely interesting place to work with varied job roles and large amounts of different teams to work with. There are many internal oppurtunities and personal development is a big important factor in Tesco which helps to develop in my career. The support from line managers is extremely good and we have a lot of insight into the wider business with weekly team meetings and also whole general merchandise team five meetings. These help us to understand our place in the market, the overall performance and how this may impact the end of year financial figures and the share price.

I would advise others to be themselves, to enjoy the assessment days as they are extremely fun and make sure you research the job roles you are applying into. Personality is a big factor in the apprenticeship scheme and it is important that you are ready to take on the work load and also to excel in your day job with high levels of motivation and interest in the business and the wider retail market. I would have liked to have known my exact job role and the product area earlier on in the application process as I only found out on my first day where I would be working.