#Projects
OUR GRADUATES LEARN TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS IN AN
INTERNATIONAL TEAM, COMMUNICATE AND COOPERATE
EFFECTIVELY TO ATTAIN COMMON GLOBAL OBJECTIVES
at Imperial Tobacco – the atmosphere here was
simply incredible. I felt it most strongly in the
Assessment Center, when all of us
got together to discuss the most
interesting cases. I felt that
with a team like that I would be
able to fully realize my potential."
Aidana Esengulova, Graduate Program
participant from Almaty.
"I visited the Imperial Tobacco website and was really
excited by the opportunity to build an international
career offered by the company. All the doors are
wide open for you; you can choose any country and
develop a career that you really want." Gleb
Usachev, Graduate Program participant
from Moscow.
When the selection process is completed, the
two most successful candidates are invited to
take part in the two-year program. It should be
noted that our company offers a program that is unique
for Russia, where graduates can study our business in
depth and select the most interesting area for future
professional development and personal fulfillment.
"The Program offers four rotations in different
departments, during which participants are exposed
to an invaluable variety of experience, can try
themselves in different roles and communicate
with seasoned professionals and market experts.
Each rotation lasts six months. This period
gives graduates a chance to deeply study
the operations of each department,
learn about its specific requirements,
understand the main objectives and
try their hand at attaining them, and,
most importantly, assess whether this
is an area in which they would
like to develop professionally and
personally. The combination of
departments may vary depending
on individual preferences of each
program participant," explains
Galina Ptashkina, Head of HR
Russia and CA Cluster.
"My first rotation was in Sales Department where
I worked as a sales representative. At first I found
it hard to imagine myself in a car loaded with
bulky equipment, visiting retail outlets, especially
as I was the only girl in a team of 30 men.
It was rather difficult, but I was aware that
it was just a stage, and a challenge that
I had to face in order to gain an insider
understanding of the company’s inner
workings," says Aidana.
"My second rotation was a business development
job, and the third one was with the I&I Department,
as a logical progress of my personal program. When
the program was over, I was offered a permanent
employment contract and now I work at
Imperial Tobacco. Bingo!’ Vera Scherbakova,
Trade Segmentation and Profitability
Analyst, Moscow, former Graduate Program
participant.
"I am currently doing my third rotation, working with
the Marketing and Sales team. I find this function
the most interesting so far, and
hope to show my worth and be
useful both to my colleagues in
Marketing and to the company
in general.’ Dmitry Bakharev,
Graduate Program participant
from Moscow.
"At the final stage of the program, our graduates
present a global project in cooperation with
program participants from other countries.
This assignment teaches them to build
relationships in an international team,
communicate and cooperate effectively
to attain common global objectives,"
says Elena Goikolova, HR Manager for
Central Asia.
COMMON CANDIDATE SELECTION SYSTEM
• CV screening;
• tests;
• telephone interview;
• office interview;
• assessment session, which includes team brainstorming,
sales role games and individual presentation assignments.
"My team included participants from Spain, Germany,
the UK and Turkey. They were all five-star guys
with serious backgrounds from the world’s top
universities. The key idea of the project is not just to
give us understanding of this market. It’s more about
communicating, an opportunity to share knowledge
and learn new skills. After the project, it has become
much easier to work together with our colleagues
both on local and international levels," says Gleb
Usachev.
When the program is over and the global projects
have been successfully presented, HR screens the
Group for open vacancies, analyzes feedback from
managers of the departments to which program
participants have been rotated and makes permanent
job offers based on the above information and
personal wishes of each participant.
"The program is really very, very cool. I have
not seen such an example of corporate culture
anywhere. The company is totally open, it
encourages you to show the best of yourself, to
work together with other program participants
and receive feedback at all levels. For example,
I’ve received feedback from my team manager, my
international manager, as well as from colleagues
from HR and other departments," says Gleb
Usachev.
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