Ruth's Journey
Location: Leicester
I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University which has a close relationship with Samworth Brothers, so I had heard that this scheme was a really good one to apply for. I was particularly interested in the fact that you get the opportunity to move into a new role every six months. This means you can gain wide industrial exposure over the course of the two-year graduate programme and be offered a variety of projects to get stuck into.
My first placement was at Bradgate Bakery at Ashton Green. As a Technical graduate, in my first placement role I helped launch a range with a new Food to Go client for the business. This meant I was involved in a range of activities such as raw materials intake, artwork, specification writing and meeting suppliers.
After her first placement
For my second placement I moved across to Bradgate Bakery’s Madeline Road site where I was a QA Team Leader, leading a team of six. This was a fast-paced environment where I had to make quick decisions. In this role I learned a great deal about the technical issues you can face in production and how to overcome them.
My current placement is in the Process department, still at Madeline Road. I work alongside the New Product Development and Commercial teams, as well as production, helping to take a brand new product idea from concept through to the launch into store.
All graduates at Samworth Brothers are assigned a mentor. This is someone I can turn to for advice, guiding me to solve problems instead of them fixing it for me. Their role is to support me and to give me guidance wherever I may need it – whether about a specific project I am working on or about my future career path. I find this really helpful.
Samworth Brothers are very active in helping their local community, and I took part in a volunteering exercise where a team of professionals goes into secondary schools to help pupils with their interview skills. I interviewed around 10 people over the course of the day and gave them feedback, helping them to prepare for their first job. It’s great to be able to give something back, as well as gaining experience as an interviewer myself.