Jack's Career Journey

The scheme…
“Well, the scheme is broken down into five or six rotations so you get passed through all different parts of the organisation, which really gives you that cross-functional knowledge of the organisation before you can take it back into one section that you want to work in of interest.”

“The first rotation is in a proper store, Foss Park in Leicester, and training to be a Customer Services Manager so that is interacting with the customers, seeing what they need, giving them what they need and also to manage the staff around to really give the best experience you can. So it really gives you an insight that you can then take back to Head Office.”

“After my first rotation in store, I am due to go onto the e-commerce section so that’s getting involved with the online operations, which is being an increasing part of what Argos does everyday.”

The application process...
“I was just browsing through the University Intranet and up came a message, ‘Argos wants to hear from you’, so I thought “Great, let’s apply”. So I sent off my CV and here I am!”

“I think the application process really gave me a deeper understanding of what Argos actually is. I mean, most people just see it as just another retailer, when actually it is completely different to all the other retailers out there. So they make us do presentations about specific issues, relating to Argos. The assessment centre is really fun. Everyone meets some really senior people in the organisation, which was quite daunting but actually they were really friendly and really interactive, really wanted to know about you and the activities they got us to do were just everyday things that you would do normally at Argos. ”

“My tips would be just be yourself, I mean, if you be yourself there, they can get a feel for who you are and they don’t have to read in between the lines, so to speak. So, I just went in, was myself, had a great time doing every part of everything and I think that played in my favour at the end. ”

“When I got the call, I was on my way to get a Chinese actually, because it was a long day and I thought, treat myself to a Chinese and yeah, I was elated, absolutely elated, couldn’t believe it. They got back to me that day as well so it felt it was fresh, you know, what I’d done and it felt really good so I was accepted on the spot, it was fantastic.”

Why Argos...
“Argos is really friendly, interactive, everyone is willing to help out and, you know, mucking in, there is never any negative points, only encouragement which is good. ”

&ldquoMy own personal priorities for a graduate scheme were personal development, obviously good pay and also great benefits and the environment in which I work in. I didn’t want to work for a big organisation where your friends are your competitors almost. I wanted to work for a team organisation where they develop you like that and to be able to progress through different departments of the organisation, get that cross-functional knowledge and then take that into one department that you really feel passionately about and then be able to go on and be able to make it to the directors in 10 years time, just really exciting. Everyone works as one team, which is great. ‘It is my Argos’, which everyone buys into. …”

“My perception of Argos has definitely changed as a graduate employee. I mean, like I say, you don’t normally associate Argos with a leadership scheme of such high calibre, but actually, when you dig deeper underneath and get all the information and see what Argos really has to offer, then you start to appreciate how good it actually is. So, I think it has definitely changed and is definitely up there with the best graduate schemes. ”

“What do my friends think of me working at Argos? Oh, yeah they joke about it sometimes, especially with me working in store. They come and visit, pretending to be customers but actually when they ask about the scheme, they start to realise that it is quite a lucrative scheme. ”

Final thoughts...
“Yeah, I would like to add, don’t put off Argos from the start. Really look at what they have to offer as a scheme because it is actually fantastic. I mean, to be able to be on the board within eight to 10 years and get that cross-functional development along the way and that customer insight which is key, don’t put it off, have a go, get your application in because the rewards are great at the end of the day.”