The great thing about working at M&S is that you are supported and encouraged to follow as many opportunities as possible, there are lots of things to get involved in throughout the wider business. This is why the M&S Generalist Graduate Scheme was so appealing to me as you’re given the autonomy to carve your own career path. If you’d like to explore new experiences in different areas, then you are fully supported through your decision to do this. The company culture really stands out to me, everyone seems to enjoy working here and are advocates of the brand.
I currently work in the food events marketing team and I am leading on the New Year & Hogmanay (Scottish New Year) campaigns. I am also providing a supporting role on the Christmas campaigns. It is great that M&S give you the responsibility if you want it.
Day to day, I work within a small team and liaise with all of the marketing channels. A big part of my role involves briefing on the marketing in store, such as the labels and displays you may see on-shelf. I help to organise the photography, the sign off and getting it to the studio to print. I also work with different category marketing teams. We work with buyers, product developers and food technologists to ensure the right information is being communicated to customers (price, ingredients, weight, imagery etc). On occasion, I also liaise with marketing teams across clothing and home, which includes womenswear, menswear, kidswear, lingerie, home and beauty.
The scheme is structured in a way in which you get the chance to experience a different sector of the business every 6 months. You begin your first graduate rotation in store, before moving to the support centre in January. I worked in the High Street Kensington store and working in a busy central London store was incredibly eye-opening. Store management over Christmas really helped me understand the complexities of retail and challenges surrounding customer satisfaction, stock management, visual merchandising and employee engagement. This knowledge really helps me when making decisions in my role now that have a large impact on store colleagues.
Once I completed my first 4 months in store, I moved into the third party brands team in clothing and home and I’m currently working in food events marketing. In early January I will be moving to work in online operations on an omnichannel transformation project which I am really excited about, as it is completely different to any of my past work experience.
● Working with clients
In my final year, I worked on a consultancy project instead of completing a dissertation. I worked with the British Heart Foundation, which was really interesting. It was a great experience as I learnt how to work and communicate with clients.
● Working within a team
I also developed my teamwork skills during this project- I had to learn how to navigate different methods of working and learn how to understand the team’s individual needs and agendas.
I would really recommend getting involved in project-based work if you have the opportunity to do so. It’s a good chance to learn and put into practice certain skills that you may go on to use in the workplace. For me, it meant that starting a job and being in a workplace wasn’t so daunting.
I always knew I wanted to apply to the M&S Graduate Scheme– I actually applied a few times before I was successful. I persevered because I thought it was a really interesting scheme.
All stages of the recruitment process are held virtually and they consist of an initial application, logic and reasoning tests to demonstrate specific skills for some programmes like Software Engineering, then a video interview and assessment centre, where you take part in a number of exercises to assess your strengths, including an interview and a small group exercise.
Perseverance is key! It’s important to not let yourself become discouraged or disheartened when you are unsuccessful. I also think it’s great if you can get some application practice in before you apply to the schemes you’re really interested in. If you can, apply to a few schemes that aren’t your first choice before you apply to your desired job!
It’s also a good idea to make the most of the opportunities and experiences available to you at university. Whilst I studied at Newcastle, I gained some work experience through a term time internship that was run through the university. I also attended a graduate recruitment fair at my student union.
It’s exciting to think about what comes next after your time at university. More often than not, career paths post graduation are not linear– and your first step out of university may not be your ultimate career path. Your time at university is a great opportunity to develop your skills and think about the next steps. Seek out the opportunities available to you and you can gain the skills similar to the ones that Katy demonstrates day-to-day at M&S.
Check out the graduate roles available at M&S.