My two year graduate program with the Go-Ahead Group consisted of multiple secondments, experiencing a variety of roles tailored to enhance my capabilities in operations, performance and team management.

In my role as a Route Manager I was responsible for the performance of four market share routes in Oxford City Centre. Alongside this I was also responsible for the 75 PCV drivers who were enlisted on these routes as permanent drivers. The daily tasks within this role consisted of people management, responding to vehicle incidents, customer complaints and concerns, as well as performance and absence management. Monitoring the compliance of the service routes and proposing changes to overcome the challenges faced was another responsibility within my role. With a large team of direct reports, colleague engagement was a key focus area, which shaped the decision making process, when seeking to implement changes to drive the success of the services.

As a seconded role within my graduate program, I was able to join an enthusiastic team in delivering the mobilisation of the Oxford Demand Responsive Transport solution, PickMeUp. Being part of an innovative new project was just one of the many exciting aspects of this role, alongside engaging with all departments across the business to drive a successful service launch. Ensuring key milestones were met throughout the project and leading stakeholder interaction were two of the key responsibilities within my role.

The first three months of my graduate program were spent gaining an insight into frontline operations, through obtaining my PCV licence and operating a service route in Oxford City Centre. Following an understanding of what it took to deliver the customer experience when out on the roads, I then went one step further and joined the control team, responsible for the delivery of all services. This included morning, afternoon and night shifts, supporting drivers and allocating vehicles to ensure we ran services that met compliance standards and customer expectation.

Helping to teach the magnificent story that is Bletchley Park and it's code breaking history, I offered my services as a voluntary steward to the trust. Assisting visitors and experiencing the park for myself not only contributed to my degree subject, but also my joy for working and connecting with people.

Working within the Signet group I had the opportunity to work between the Central Milton Keynes Ernest Jones and Leslie Davis branch. Here I gained specialist product knowledge but more significantly enhanced my customer service skills as well as discovering my love for working and connecting with people. Working towards daily, weekly and monthly store sales targets within a fast paced and high pressured environment, allowed me to use my ability to be self motivated whilst building team morale and offering additional training to less experienced colleagues.

As my first job in the field of retail, whilst working at Next I gained an initial insight into working with customers and meeting consumer demands as a large business. Most of my tasks within the position of sales associate were focused around helping the shop floor maintain a presentable image and both assisting and encouraging customers with their purchases. Within a few months at Next I was entrusted with further tasks such as overlooking departments within the store and being responsible for stock management and replenishment.