Placement profile: Buyer at Primark Head Office

What do you do in your role?

I’m responsible for maintaining communication with suppliers, updating critical paths, tracking delivery journeys from supplier to store, creating trend boards, assisting with fits, attending trade meetings, making and amending orders and filtering through post.

These tasks give me a large amount of responsibility, with high pressure environments. However, they’re allowing me to expand my knowledge of buying within a large and successful chain. 

How did you secure your placement?

I found the Primark job opportunity through my Placement tutor. I was able to apply online with a CV, which I got help creating through my Placement module.

The application/interview process took in total 5 months, with a four-step process: 

1. Submitted my CV online.
2. Answered online video questions.
3. Math test – as I was applying for a buyer role, this was quite important.
4. An online assessment centre which consisted of an online team focus group, a 15-minute presentation, followed by an interview.

I applied for Primark in September and was accepted onto the course in February. Out of over 2000 people who applied, only 48 were accepted, so I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity.

What challenges do you face in your role?

I really enjoyed gaining the experience of being a trainee buyer, as I didn’t know what the job entailed. By completing a year-long placement, I feel I will have gained in-depth knowledge of the buying process and other roles within the fashion industry which I can explore. 

Being a buyer, you have to be very organised! I get a heavy traffic flow from my emails; from suppliers, designers, merchandisers, quality assessors, Primark Cares team and many more. The key responsibility of being a buyer is that I'm able to relay information to the wider team, with the main goal to handover goods on time. Therefore, I have to prioritise workload and stick to key deadlines, by remaining organised and efficient.

I also do a lot of presentations. For example, I present in weekly trade meetings to my department, which is over 50 people, which means I’ve had to build my confidence in presenting and push myself out of my comfort zone.

What are some of the rewards?

Through the last 8 months of working in Primark, I have had many opportunities that I would not have if I didn’t start my placement here. I have presented in strategy meetings to my trading director, head of merch, head of design and head of buying. I present in trade calls every Monday, and I organise and deliver sign-offs. I have also built a strong working relationship with suppliers to achieve little to no delays. I am proud of all of these achievements, and I feel we help me to prosper in my future career.

I have also learnt from the sessions Primark provides for Early Career students. Every 2 months, the placement cohort are given the opportunity to go to industry expert talks, providing us with skills to aid our careers, For example, we have learnt key ways of communication in a work environment, we have completed personality assessments, the importance of work prioritisation and participated in self-effective workshops. All these will help me not only with my future career but the rest of my time at university. 

What have you learnt?

The five key takeaways from my placement so far have been: 

1. Effective communication
2. Work prioritisation
3. Relationship building
4. Presentation skills
5. Gaining confidence in my abilities