All About the Programme

Our grad programme is aimed at talented graduates with a development goal of working towards a career in store management.  It operates in 3 phases, each one aimed at building your skill set so you are in a position to take control of your own store as soon as possible!

Phase 1:
This involves an initial orientation to The Warehouse, gaining an overall basic understanding of the company's operations and support functions through being assigned to a store for a period of approximately 5-7 months.

Phase 2: 
This phase will commence with a leadership development workshop followed by work experience in up to three Team Leader roles.   During this time you will hone your ability to drive sales, grow profit and lead and develop a team.  You'll also be provided with the opportunity to learn more advanced leadership skills and to work on a designated, relevant project, aimed at show casing your abilities.

Phase 3: 
In this final phase you'll gain work experience as an Assistant Store Manager.  You'll start by taking responsibility for part of a store and, as your skills develop, progress to take over more and more responsibility for the store.

Once you've achieved the competencies required to be a successful Store Manager, you'll be ready to apply for a store of your own!

Kirsten and Jamie

Kirsten is currently in Phase 3 of the Programme as an Assistant Store Manager.  Having attended Auckland University of Technology with the idea of studying Graphic Design, she changed her mind after 6 months, followed her passion and moved down to Otago University to complete a Marketing degree majoring in Management. 

Kirsten has graduated from the Programme and is now working as a Store Manager based in Levin. We initially started following Kirsten when she was in Phase 2 of the Programme – working as an Assistant Store Manager. Kirsten never thought her degree would lead her to a career in retail management. But now that's she completed the Programme, she thinks its the best choice she ever made! If you’re keen to find out more about Kirsten’s story, please click here to read her blog.