Placements / Internships
Within our branches, we offer both Retail Management Summer Internships and year long Retail Management Industrial Placements.
Placements and internships are a great way for you to get an overview of how a John Lewis branch is structured, how it operates and an insight into what a career in John Lewis retail might be like.
Please note we do not offer placements/internships in specific functions such as Buying, Marketing, Design or Personnel.
Retail Management Summer Internships
What better way to spend the summer of your penultimate year at university than by gaining invaluable experience combining the practicality of working on the shop floor with the theory of running a successful retail company?
A jam-packed six weeks based in one of our department stores, our Retail Management Summer Internship Scheme focuses on general retail management and business skills. You’ll gain an overall view of trading and retail management, with exposure to different product presentations, stock control and selling techniques.
You can expect to meet and talk to senior branch management, and we’ll set a project on a commercial aspect of the business for you.
We are looking for penultimate year students from any degree discipline with a passion for retail and customer service. You should have an interest in retail management and, possibly, previous retail experience.
Strong written and verbal communication skills are vital as you’ll be working alongside senior managers, colleagues and customers, as well as giving a presentation on your project.
Things you need to know:
- Be prepared to work some weekends and evenings
- You’ll need to complete an online application. If you’re successful at application stage and pass all the online tests, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre
- You’ll have a performance review at the end of your internship to determine whether you could be recommended to move straight to the assessment centre stage of the next graduate intake for the Retail Management Graduate Scheme
- We ask successful candidates for the three branches where they would like to work in preference order and attempt to place them in one of those branches
- The placement is paid, at a rate of approximately £300 per week and dates are agreed on a mutual basis between you and the branch
Application Criteria
The minimum criteria is as follows:
- GCSE Maths and English or equivalent at grade C or above
- In the penultimate year of your course, studying for a full degree (equivalent to, or higher than BA or BSC)
- Be prepared to work some weekends and evenings
We are sorry, if you do not meet the above minimum criteria, we will not be able to consider your application.
Retail Management Industrial Placements
What better way to spend your year in industry than by gaining valuable experience working for a highly successful retail company.
Based in one of our department stores, our Retail Management Industrial Placement Scheme focuses on retail management and business skills. You’ll gain an overall view of trading and retail management, with exposure to different functions that make up a branch. As your placement progresses, you will recieve increased responsibilities with the view to managing you own section of a department.
We are looking for students who need to work in industry for a year as part of their University course. You’ll have a passion for retail and want to deliver outstanding customer service. We look for candidates with a hunger for success, good commercial awareness, and a passion for people and the Partnership. Strong leadership potential is vital as is your ability to work in, and deliver results through, a team. You’ll be someone who genuinely cares about the well-being of your Partners.
Strong written and verbal communication skills are vital as you’ll be working alongside senior managers, colleagues and customers.
Things you need to know:
- The placement is salaried at £15,000
- Be prepared to work some weekends and evenings on a regular basis
- You’ll need to complete an online application. If you’re successful at application stage and pass all the online tests, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre
- You’ll have a performance review at the end of your placement to determine whether you could be recommended to move straight to the assessment centre stage of the next graduate intake for the Retail Management Graduate Scheme
Application Criteria
The minimum criteria is as follows:
- GCSE Maths and English or equivalent at grade C or above
- This year will be your year in industry as part of your University degree course
- Be prepared to work some weekends and evenings on a regular basis.
We are sorry, if you do not meet the above minimum criteria, we will not be able to consider your application.
The Application process
There are four stages of our application process and you are required to pass each stage before being invited to the next. For all stages there are strict timelines on completion. See the invite email/s for details.
The first two stages are an online 'cultural fit' questionnaire and a situational judgement test. This takes about 10 minutes to complete and the situational judgement test takes about 30 minutes to complete. Both tests are part of the initial application form itself so we recommend that you find a quiet place where you can concentrate in order to complete your application.
At the third stage you are required to answer some questions. Once you have submitted them, your answers are then marked and, if you reach or exceed the pass mark, you will be invited to a one day assessment centre.
The assessment centres are the final part of the recruitment process and will be held in early Spring 2012. If you reach this stage, more information will be sent to you on what to expect.
If you are successful at the assessment centre, you will be offered a place on the scheme.
We are always looking at our recruitment process and the Graduate Recruitment Manager may choose at anytime to review the recruitment process.
Hints and tips
- The first tests are automatically marked; the third stage questions however are read and marked by us. Therefore, if you get to this stage, we would recommend that you consider the questions carefully and really think about your answers, using the best examples to highlight your points. Every applicant who applies to us has experienced University, so applicants might think about finding examples outside their University or academic experience if possible to highlight the points they wish to make in their answers.
- Check your application form for spelling and grammar mistakes. We deduct points from applications that are not well presented.
- Compile all your basic details, qualifications and work experience on a Word document ready. Not only can you then copy and paste your details over to the application form, making the initial application process quicker, this will also be useful for any other schemes you choose to apply for.
- We will always make reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates. So please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the process.
