University Guides June 22, 2010
- Wanted – graduates with flair, vision and a passion for John Lewis
Students who share in this country’s
love affair with the John Lewis Partnership can now look forward to new
opportunities for making a career with the company. From September this
year the John Lewis recruitment programme begins two new graduate schemes,
one in buying, one in merchandising.In the past, would-be buyers have
had to apply for the general management scheme and then work their way into
head office but now can apply to start at entry level to become an assistant
buyer, and within 3 to 5 years if all goes well they could be buying globally
and handling multi-million budgets.Sophie
Milliken, the group’s graduate recruitment manager, says they are looking for
people with flair, vision and a passion for the John Lewis ethos -
that’s good service to customers and profit sharing for staff who become
“partners” in the business.For merchandising you
need to be able to look at the numbers and forecast product sales.
“We’re looking for people with maths skills who are good at thinking
logically. They will work alongside the buyers. The buyer might see a range of
products and say ‘wow’, and the merchandiser has to bring them down to earth
and start talking about units and figures,” says Milliken.Graduate
trainees start on £24,000 plus the partnership bonus, while an assistant buyer
can earn £23,600 to £32,800. Fully-fledged buyers earn between £43,000 and
£87,250 plus bonus.More
details on this story from the Independent website
