Plug-In programme - developing and powering on!
By
Ana Sousa
Aiming to develop people and make them feel happy and passionate at work. Travel enthusiast, going on adventures with my Makavelic backpack.
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Four years ago, we started designing what would become a robust traineeship programme, which focuses on the acceleration of young talented graduates with high potential. We’ve called it Plug-in, and we created a dedicated team within HR, working closely with the technology teams - well, not HR, we call ourselves People Team.
We took about a year to be completely happy with our value proposition. We wanted Plug-in to be different and to offer more than a first professional experience. We wanted to give young graduates a chance to have an impact while learning what they couldn’t learn anywhere else.
So, in September 2016, we launched the first Plug-in edition with 25 young talents, thanks to the dedication and joint effort of our brilliant people within Farfetch.
We are talking about a programme that, from its beginning, has had a mentoring structure. This represents a unique opportunity for these recent graduates who can have their first work experience with the close support of our experts, and at the same time participate in complex and innovative projects that are changing the industry. All the conditions were gathered for an opportunity to work with our excellent professionals and in our informal environment.
We have already launched the third edition of Plug-in, and its success doesn't go unnoticed at Farfetch.
During the first weeks, our trainees had the opportunity to chat with Farfetchers from different departments and know more about their days.
Throughout these editions, we have been designing the programme model to meet the expectations of our trainees while aligning with the needs of the business. One of the most significant differences is the length of the programme. In the first edition, we conceptualised Plug-in with one-year length, of which three months would consist in a more theoretical context in a training room. We quickly realised that it would be much more interesting to reconcile the theory in a more hands-on setting where our trainees would be led by a mentor and have direct contact with the teams they are integrated. In the second edition, we reduced the programme to nine months and today it has six. We noted that the quality of our trainees has been so high that they learn fast and show very high levels of autonomy just after a few months.
Our candidates go through a rigorous selection process that includes profile analysis, response to technological challenges, performance in group dynamics, and the final interview.
But we won't stop here. The world of tech is a fast-paced environment, and we want to keep growing Plug-in so we can continue to offer a one of a kind trainee and mentoring programme - so Watch out this space to know what the future holds.
We took about a year to be completely happy with our value proposition. We wanted Plug-in to be different and to offer more than a first professional experience. We wanted to give young graduates a chance to have an impact while learning what they couldn’t learn anywhere else.
So, in September 2016, we launched the first Plug-in edition with 25 young talents, thanks to the dedication and joint effort of our brilliant people within Farfetch.
Ready to get started
We are talking about a programme that, from its beginning, has had a mentoring structure. This represents a unique opportunity for these recent graduates who can have their first work experience with the close support of our experts, and at the same time participate in complex and innovative projects that are changing the industry. All the conditions were gathered for an opportunity to work with our excellent professionals and in our informal environment.
We have already launched the third edition of Plug-in, and its success doesn't go unnoticed at Farfetch.
Throughout these editions, we have been designing the programme model to meet the expectations of our trainees while aligning with the needs of the business. One of the most significant differences is the length of the programme. In the first edition, we conceptualised Plug-in with one-year length, of which three months would consist in a more theoretical context in a training room. We quickly realised that it would be much more interesting to reconcile the theory in a more hands-on setting where our trainees would be led by a mentor and have direct contact with the teams they are integrated. In the second edition, we reduced the programme to nine months and today it has six. We noted that the quality of our trainees has been so high that they learn fast and show very high levels of autonomy just after a few months.
Our candidates go through a rigorous selection process that includes profile analysis, response to technological challenges, performance in group dynamics, and the final interview.
But we won't stop here. The world of tech is a fast-paced environment, and we want to keep growing Plug-in so we can continue to offer a one of a kind trainee and mentoring programme - so Watch out this space to know what the future holds.
