Emily Matthews, Derby University Graphic Designer has recently secured a graduate placement with Sports Direct based in Nottinghamshire. She shares her recruitment and selection experience here. Read on to discover more...
Sports Direct Graduate Scheme
In July this year I started my two month placement on the Sports Direct graduate scheme, working in the ecommerce department doing SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation).
The application process!
I came across the job advertisement by chance after searching for the Sports Directs website and clicking the careers link. The advertisement was very engaging and there were lots of incentives to draw people in. I signed up by putting my basic details in, so there was no lengthy application process or space to write a persuasive cover letter to prove why they should hire me. About a week or so later I was invited to take an online psychometric and maths test, something I had done several times before, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I found the tests very hard and after an hour and half working through all the questions, I had little faith that anything would come of it!
Surprisingly to me, shortly after I was informed I passed the tests and I was now invited to attend an assessment day! In preparation for the assessment day I had to do a swot analysis of the Sports Direct website, which I would present at some point during the day. This was a good opportunity to research the company and get to know a bit more about my prospective employers.
The Assessment day!
The day itself day was really relaxed and everyone was so friendly! I didn’t feel under pressure or too nervous when presenting to my group or having group discussions. The interview went really well, the interviewees were friendly and chatty, so it felt like more of a talk about my education and career goals than an interview where I’m trying to sell myself.
At the end of the day we were all told we had been accepted onto the 2 month internship! I had a feeling they were going to say something along those lines, but I’m sure it had just been wishful thinking! I was quite overwhelmed as I left the building, someone had actually given me a job!!
The job!
Now that I have been working here for 4 weeks, I have learnt a lot about SEO and ecommerce which has been a great opportunity for me to not only further my skills and knowledge, but see if I like this area of work and whether I want to stick at it, which I certainly do! Over the 2 months, we have been given a project based on SEO and improving the rankings on google. I have been assigned the watersports category and from there I had to choose 3 keywords, wetsuit, beach shelter and kickboard, that I am trying to get ranked higher on google by the end. To do this I have to create backlinks by guest blogging and linking my keyword back to the website. Blogging is something I’ve always been interested in doing, but never knew what to write, so I’ve really enjoyed having a go at writing and seeing it published is a great feeling! It can get quite difficult to create backlinks and you have to be really motivated to keep trying and not give up.
The Scheme.
I feel the scheme has been such an amazing opportunity for me, that I want to get the absolute most out of it! I have worked hard and continue to change my approach when tactics aren’t working, to ensure I get good results at the end. There is a potential job for everyone at the end of the scheme, providing they prove they are beneficial to the company by working hard and getting good results. There are also some amazing prizes at the including a large cash sum and your student fee’s paid! Even if you don’t win a prize or get a full time job at the end, the scheme is still an excellent opportunity to learn new skills and looks great on your cv, so if you get accepted onto it you’re getting a lot out of it regardless what happens afterwards!
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