Graduates given opportunities by UK retail industry

The UK retail industry is creating more job vacancies for graduates than ever before, according to latest research from the Leadership & Management and Ashridge Business School. Previous economic uncertainty has, however, led 40% of

students to accept ‘any job’ rather than one they actually wanted. Some of the UK’s most prevalent retailers have infact started trainee schemes, aimed at enabling graduates with accelerated career progression.

Last week, supermarket giant Sainsbury’s announced the re-launch of its Trainee Manager Scheme, as the company opens its programme to external candidates for the first time since 2009. Sainsbury’s Head of Resourcing Jackie Hallums says that this is a useful spring-board, helping candidates learn quickly, with many becoming Department Managers by the end of the year-long course.

She said: “The Sainsbury’s Trainee Manager programme is designed to equip candidates with all of the skills and experience they need to make a great start to their career. “In just over a year the candidates will be running their own team, making a difference to tens of thousands of customers each week. Also our trainees know that by joining Sainsbury’s they are joining a business that will let them rise to the top.”

The Sainsbury scheme is also open to school leavers, which some industry insiders dispute, believing graduates to have a better skill set to enable them to cope with the pressures of the workplace. Lancaster University’s Management School professor Dr Anthony Hesketh, presented his findings in the 2009 report ‘Adding Value Beyond Measure’. Here, he stated that graduates proved more adaptable to the working environment than school leavers.

John Lewis is one top UK retailer who strongly believes in their trainee schemes, notably only open to graduates. John Lewis Partnership, whose ranking has jumped from number 28 to 11 in the upcoming ‘The Times Top 100 Graduate Retailers’ list, claims that graduates excel under their John Lewis Graduate Retail Scheme. It says that while the quality of candidates has remained steady over recent years, many now have more retail-focused experience and know what to expect from the role.

Sophie Adams, Manager of Recruitment for John Lewis, says that a number of senior figures within the organisation first joined under the scheme, which has been running for 30 years. She said: “What makes us different as a business is the partnership side of things; the way that we do business is so different. Rather than being a number, graduates have an opportunity to get very heavily involved in the democracy side of the business and the way things are run.”

The retail scheme, which runs alongside others in IT, buying and merchandising, offers a starting salary of £25,000 on top of the bonus offered to all employees, a strong incentive at a time of tough economic conditions affecting retail. It’s positive news for the thousands of students who have just left University and will be hitting a difficult job market.