Jonathan’s Career Journey

"I was surprised it was Argos."

Application process
“I was told what the next steps were and the communication was timely, honest and accurate. This continued right through to the first week of induction. Actually, it didn’t even stop there! People are always asking ‘any more questions?’ and that’s a great thing as we’re continuously given opportunities to learn everything we want to about the business.”

“The application process here is definitely one of the scheme’s many strengths because the level and quality of communication and the way you’re treated is very, very different to other experiences I’ve had with international companies.”

“It felt great to be chosen, I had worked hard to gain my place and it’s nice to know you’ve been picked as one of five people out of over a thousand applicants. But I didn’t really know how good it was going to be until I started working here.”

Why Argos…
“Argos is very caring and friendly but at the same time it also has a culture that is very driven and obviously very cost-focused.”

“It’s a very interesting time to be here with mounting credible offers from supermarkets and online retailers. Combine that with the tough economic situation and the continued threat of recession and you find yourself involved in a highly complex, rapidly changing environment in which we want to continue our winning streak.”

“Anyone can make lots of promises about their graduate scheme, but very few companies deliver them. Argos has provided the scheme it promised and more. What it says in the booklet becomes reality when you get your place.”

“Argos has a good feeling about it and if you’re on this scheme particularly, the opportunities are massive – they genuinely are really big.”

Choosy…
“I think it’s a really unique scheme, there’s nothing quite like this that’s available anywhere else in the retail market as far as I am aware.”

“The attractions of the scheme are the mentor, sponsor, pay, bonus, level of exposure, networking, and such a small number of graduates. You get all the attention and focus you’d hope for – you don’t get that elsewhere from what I hear from university friends on other graduate schemes. Argos is incredibly committed to investment in training and development especially for graduates on this scheme. You can also pick and choose projects to carry out as a team or take something on yourself. The serious goal of being on the board of directors in 10 years affords you all of these benefits.”

“The very small numbers of people on the scheme and the amount of support you get is amazing.”

“A lot will be expected of you and when you deliver you will be rewarded accordingly.”

The start of something big…
“The first week on the scheme is great - a complete whirlwind tour of the entire business. Colleagues from all over the business just come in and talk you through what they do and how that fits in with other teams, departments and the external environment.”

Networking and exposure…
“My web of contacts is enormous and I’m learning to make the most of it.”

“There’s quite a level of respect and you’re almost gifted that from day one as colleagues know what it takes to get onto the scheme. With the respect comes huge exposure to all levels of the business from store staff right through to Group Directors. Colleagues know and recognise the scheme and the graduates who are on it and so you’re well known immediately. You can just walk up to, or email, very senior people and you are guaranteed a good response.”

“The more people you speak to, the more you realise that there is quite a big expectation of you, but also that there are all these people willing you to succeed, and they’re there to support you all the way.”

“Today I’ve been working on a project. My findings have gone out to around 50 people, including some bigwigs so it’s a really important, highly visible email, and it has got my name at the end. I need to make sure it’s right and be ready to backup my analysis if necessary.”

Mentors…
“You can make the mentor scheme what you want. You have a conversation with them as often, or as little, as you want. For me it’s been really good for networking, personal development and for bouncing business development ideas around.”

“I get some proper mentoring, in terms of work and life in general. We also use our mentors as a really good sounding board. They provide good advice and help us make other contacts in the business that we might need for projects.”

“My mentor is one of the company’s best examples of what a manager has to be in order to succeed. He’s a great guy to talk to about management, but also about the company’s future as he’s involved with the e-commerce side of things, which is a massive area of growth for Argos particularly. It’s really interesting to talk to him because of his involvement in many projects which are changing how we interact with our customers.”

“Your support comes from your sponsor and your mentor – they deliberately pick out high level managers who are identified as being talented. This means you can learn from them, gain proper support and guidance and benefit from the focused training and development you need as you progress.”

“I think that one of the massive bonuses of being on the scheme is the level and depth of our networking - after two years it will be immense. I’ve got really good links with store and area managers, colleagues who are out in the field in HR and also a few people who work at store level. I’ve also got great links in other departments. I was in the Mobiles and Sat Nav team, so I’ve got links in Electricals, in Buying and Trading, and now I’m starting to branch out into Marketing as well. Working in Sat Nav, I was on the phone, often negotiating with TomTom and Sony, which was great exposure and experience.”

Ten years to director…
“With one year finished already, in nine years I should be on the board. It’s totally, totally on the company’s and my own radar. The big question is – what does the journey look like between finishing the graduate scheme and getting into that position? We talk about this in our one-to-ones; how we think the journey is shaping up, the big steps, what areas we think we want to move into, our next steps - and it’s very much a realistic yet challenging long-term goal.