Company: GXO
Role: Shift Manager
Jack is currently in the Operational Graduate Programme for GXO on his second of three eight month placements. Within the scheme, the three placements are split between Operation, Transport and Projects, with some flexibility based on each candidate’s skills and interests.
His first role was in Operational Excellence on a food service contract, where he learnt the fundamentals, before working on projects designed to improve day-to-day operations. In his second placement, Jack took on a grocery contract working as a shift manager with a heavy focus on how each shift was run and how that could be optimised.
Having come to the GXO graduate scheme directly from finishing university, Jack was initially attracted to it because of its heavy focus on technology. With a degree in, and a passion for computing, the key course experience and the qualification the scheme leads to aligns to his future aspirations in logistics, and gives him an opportunity to apply his knowledge:
“With GXO’s heavy focus on automation driving results, I could challenge some of the key skills I had learnt.”
Jack had no previous experience in logistics before committing to the two year scheme, but so far he’s found the skills he’s picked up in other roles to be surprisingly fitting for the challenges he now faces in his day-to-day work:
“I worked part-time as a park ranger, which honed several key skills which I’ve gone on to develop. My previous role taught me to build strong communication skills with key stakeholders. And to prioritise, deal with lots of people, and choose my time wisely to best suit the needs of the employees and customers.”
The chance to challenge existing systems and improve things for the better is Jack’s favourite part of working at GXO.
“My current career highlight is delivering my finished project to the customer at the end of my first placement. This was something I had been working hard on for a number of months and I was able to deliver something that would change the way they operate, and be a huge benefit not just to GXO but also the customer. The feedback I got was excellent.”