Laura
Video transcript
My name's Laura Akroyd and I'm on the John Lewis Retail Industrial Placement scheme. I'm studying at Leeds University and I'm doing a degree in Psychology. I've already completed two years at university in Leeds, I've taken a year out to complete the John Lewis Industrial Placement and I'm then going back to university to finish my degree. I'll then be returning to do the John Lewis graduate scheme.
Psychology opened a wide range of careers however I wanted to choose retail because I wanted to work with people. A psychology degree will help me with that because it helps you understand people's behaviours and actions.
What I wanted to get out of the placement was to ensure that retail was the right career path for me. I also wanted to ensure that John Lewis was the right company for me to be working in.
My placement consisted of ten months in Liverpool. The first three months were getting to know how things worked, making sure I knew stock, getting to know the Partners, making sure I knew where everything was even. The next three months were spent exploring different departments. I worked with visual merchandising, marketing, maintenance.
The last six months I spent being an Acting Section Manager in the menswear department. This role gave me much more responsibility; I was working with the Department Manager and the team of Section Managers in the menswear department.
None of my other university friends took on a placement, I was the only one, so it meant leaving Leeds, leaving all my friends behind. However, now I‘ve been confirmed a place on the graduate scheme I think they're all a little bit jealous.
The way the placement has helped with my career choices is that it's confirmed to me that retail is the sector that I want to be in. It has also confirmed to me that John Lewis is definitely the company that I want to continue my career with.
The things I've learnt on my placement that I can take back to my studies are definitely working as part of a team and being able to manage my time effectively.
Completing a Psychology degree, it's a degree that's focused on people, people's actions, people's behaviours. Taking that back to John Lewis will be important, working with customers, dealing with customers' complaints or making people happy.
In the short term I wanted to confirm a place on the graduate scheme. When I come back to complete my graduate scheme I want to excel quicker, and hopefully be a Department Manager and eventually a Managing Director.
