What is the Rentokil Initial graduate scheme like?

I am currently on the finance graduate scheme at Rentokil and my first 2 placements have been in Treasury and Tax. In Treasury I worked on the global cash position which was presented to the CFO and also assisted on payments and movement of cash in bank accounts.

In the tax department, I was responsible for the country by country report which is essentially a report with taxation information about all our entities which is submitted to HMRC on a yearly basis. This project allowed me to work closely with our overseas colleagues to work towards a shared goal.

My favourite experience has been the rotations available. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing different areas of the business, how they operate and their role in making RI a FTSE 50 company.

One thing I have learnt during this graduate scheme is that my career is a marathon and not a sprint. It is easy to get lost and doubt yourself as to why you are not where you want to be. There is a huge amount of support available at RI to help you achieve your goals.

If I had to describe my Graduate experience in a few words, they would be supportive, eye opening and challenging.

Rentokil Initial is also a global company which gives you the chance to work with such a wide variety of talented people on an international basis, which is beneficial when you are at the early stages of your career.

The Graduate scheme has given me countless opportunities to take part in events such as helping to organise the summer bbq and Christmas party. This has allowed me to work with functions that I wouldn’t ordinarily work with in my day to day role whilst gaining new and valuable skills. One of my favourite experiences on the graduate scheme has been the opportunity to work on the annual International Women’s Day Event hosted in March. For the most recent event I helped to organise a speed networking event in the office, which was a great way to meet lots of new colleagues and broaden my network. I also got the chance to interview a board member on the topics of the glass ceiling and empowering women in the workplace.

The best aspects of this scheme are the support you get in getting settled in and the opportunities you have to work on exciting and challenging projects. I have had the chance to develop my presentation style, project management skills and to travel internationally with work. I will leave this scheme with an in-depth understanding of the industry and the confidence to pursue a career that is right for me.

Luckily, while applying for various graduate schemes, I came across RI. The first thing that caught my eye was that it was an IT graduate scheme with no mention of coding - I was hooked! I quickly applied to it, went through the interview process and the rest is history.

Thanks to this graduate scheme I’ve had lots of interesting opportunities and projects! First of all, thanks to my second graduate placement, I was able to attend a Prince2 Foundation course and achieve a qualification.

I’ve also had plenty of interesting opportunities outside my “normal” day job. As graduates, we participated in a project called “Micro-Tyco”, where we were divided into groups and we had to come up with an innovative project that aligned with RI’s sustainability goals. Alongside my team, we presented our project to a number of Executive Leadership Team members, including the CEO Andy Ransom! It was a great experience overall, not only because we presented our project to the CEO, but also because I was able to work with other graduates from different functions in the business.

Finally, towards the end of the year, I had the amazing opportunity of co-organising the yearly Christmas Party with other fellow graduates. That was a great experience, as we all used our skills to come together and plan an amazing event which received some really great feedback!

I’ve learned a lot during the graduate scheme, but I think the biggest lesson is that I should keep putting myself out there, as no one is here to judge you, but they actually want you to be brave and they want to hear your opinion!

If I had to describe my Graduate experience in a few words, they would be Learning experience, exciting and career growth."