We caught up with Alex from Vodafone to discuss her gradaute role with Vodafone. She tells you why Vodafone is a great place to start your career and her key insights to get ahead.
Why work for Vodafone?
Vodafone is a great company to work for and an opportunity that I am forever grateful for! Not only do they have a fantastic graduate programme, which allows for constant personal and professional development but the overall company culture is incredible. My experience so far has been completely different from my expectations, in a good way. As a graduate you get real responsibilities from day one, although at first this seems intimidating, it really does excel your development and allows you to get hands on in your first role. Graduates are truly valued within Vodafone and they make a huge impact within the business with the work that they do.
The graduate scheme itself has a lot of perks: great development, on-the-job training, building expertise in your chosen area, all of which support in fulfilling your potential and career goals. Not to mention a starting salary of £30,000, and £33,000 for tech (which is very different compared to being a student!), 28 days’ holiday (not including bank holidays!) so can do some real R&R. You also get 5 days’ charity allowance – so if you have a charity that is close to your heart you can volunteer on work time and really help make a difference. Vodafone also has a real focus on diversity, and this is something that is really important to us. Vodafone supports HeForShe because they believe that both women and men are critical to achieving gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment. Our goal is to become the world’s best employer for women by 2025!
Tell us what you need to work in Tech?
‘Technology’ is such a broad term and can include anything, so it is natural to be more cautious when applying as you want to know what sort of area you could be working in. On our technology scheme the areas you could be working in include: Technology Strategy & Architecture, Cloud & Hosting, Internet of Things, Security or Network Operations & Delivery. There are loads of opportunities within these areas where you can gain a wide range of experience and really develop your skills. On our programme you will be at the centre of Vodafone’s technology strategy and implementation. This will cover a wide range from technology designs to deliver Networks and IT through to Security, Big Data and beyond! All this is to ensure we distribute world-leading technology. You’ll get to unleash your ideas and apply them to real business projects that you can own from day one.
We’re looking for candidates who are determined, innovative, passionate about tech and just willing to get hands on and stuck in. The scheme involves working on numerous projects, and will require initiative and self-motivation throughout, it is a great opportunity for grads to have responsibility and real tasks right from the get go. Here at Vodafone, we want everyone to have the opportunity to work in the area they want, therefore you can come from any degree background to be eligible for our Tech Stream.
What impresses you on an application/at Assessment Centre?
This is the question that as grads we all want to know the answer to. To impress on an application, you really need to tailor your CV to the role and company you are applying for. It’s really common to have a standard CV which you use for all companies, but it will get you much further if you tailor it to the role. For example, look at what skills the role your applying for requires and really highlight these on your CV and link these to your previous experience.
With an assessment centre, it may sound obvious but be yourself. A lot of candidates think they need to be something they’re not, but people want to see who they are going to be working with. So be confident that being you is enough! Another key thing is preparation, not with a load of facts and figures about loads of different things within Vodafone, yes that’s impressive, but really think about WHY you want to work for Vodafone and why that role specifically. You could be applying for a graduate programme anywhere, so why Vodafone? If you show enough passion for the role and the company, it will make a huge difference.
Why do you love Bright Network members?
Bright Network members are always so engaged, and really make the most of the opportunities they are offered, which is sometimes rare. We track our applications and monitor how many bright network members get offered a role within Vodafone and they always excel. Bright Network is such a great platform and never fails to produce brilliant people like you guys!
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To find out more about Vodafone and the roles available for bright graduates, check out their employer profile.