John Lewis launches student placement schemes

The John Lewis Partnership has announced details of the industrial placement schemes it is to offer students taking a year out from university to gain workplace skills and experience in the retail sector.

The retail group is offering five placement schemes, one for its department store John Lewis, three across the Waitrose brand, as well as one within Partnership Services Procurement, the shared-services division of the retail group.

The schemes will not only cover retail management in branches, but also offer opportunities to work in areas such as agriculture, e-commerce, IT, supply chain, commercial, procurement, insight and marketing.

All placements are for 2016/17 and are available for students in the penultimate year of their degree. Each scheme lasts 12 months and the retail group hopes that successful candidates will re-join the business on graduation through one of its graduate schemes or an advertised role.

Applications for all industrial placement roles are open now and will close on October 31.

Recruitment for the Graduate schemes at John Lewis and Waitrose is set to begin in October 2015, with more information available later this month.