Amie Harris

I chose The Co-operative Group because they offer so much more than other companies, especially as profit is not their primary and sole focus. Ethics and work in the community is so important and the wide variety of businesses in the Group makes it unique. So far I have already worked with Co-operative Legal Services, Group Services and Travel and hope to discover more of the Group - including Food Retail - soon.

I was really impressed by the amount of support I’ve received. There’s a personal mentor, regular reviews and feedback, external and internal training, management development weeks, and coaches. You are also given a self-development budget of £1000, learning journal, the opportunity to study for a professional post-graduate qualification, and a support cohort - which is made up of previous and current graduates.

There are lots of opportunities to get involved in community activities, including organising an exhibition for artwork produced by local prisoners and organising a HR educational day for 14 year olds. It is a great opportunity to work with the other graduates and gain exposure to different areas of the Group you may not otherwise get to.

The programme is also really good at helping the graduates to get to know each other. There are lunches organised for the new intake to meet one another before the programme starts. As many of us relocated to Manchester for the scheme it meant we instantly had lots of friends around us as we began this great adventure in a new town. We still see each other frequently both inside and outside of work.