"Initially I was attracted by the opportunity to work abroad as part of the graduate training. In addition, the unusual type of business certainly fuelled my curiosity."
Jonathan Lewton
Graduated 2003
"Initially I was attracted by the opportunity to work abroad as part of the graduate training. In addition, the unusual type of business certainly fuelled my curiosity. I lived in France for some time with my family and although I didn't study a language at University, I am fluent in French – and I really wanted to use that skill."
"I didn't know what to expect. Working in the building trade is without doubt an eye opener as the culture is certainly different to anything that I have previously experienced. The initial induction week included cultural awareness training, which was extremely useful in terms of preparing us for the Wolseley business. I come from non-language based university learning, so much of what was taught to us was very new and informative to me. Being part of a multinational team has been very interesting. It's great to know that you can get on well with so many different sorts of people – suppliers, builders, colleagues.
"The EGP definitely requires one to be willing to learn new skills. I get on well with the people in the branch. I think I've gained their respect and made a good impression. The company adopts a work hard, play hard culture.
"Graduates definitely need to be prepared to put in the hard work, and in a way get their hands dirty. They need to be able to get on with tasks, both on their own and as part of a team. Wolseley is looking for future leaders, so you need to be prepared not just to take on individual responsibilities, but responsibilities for guiding people and decision making."