Every strong organisation has a strong HR department. Whether it’s by identifying internal skills gaps, attracting the right talent, offering guidance or finding smarter ways to work, an effective HR team makes everything run more smoothly.

The Santander HR Graduate Programme gives you a chance to make a name for yourself while supporting those around you. It involves two years of work experience, development and appraisal, and is designed to unlock potential you didn’t even know you had.

We’ll give you real responsibility from the start, and ensure you develop the types of skills that will get you noticed. Along with a mentor to advise and support you, we’ll give you a personalised development plan which will allow us to track your progress throughout the course of the programme. Once your two years are up, you’ll then be free to take on whatever challenges you like, applying what you’ve learned along the way.

Location

The programme is based in London or Milton Keynes, so you’ll need to be within commuting distance of one of them.

What we look for in you

We accept graduate applications from all degree disciplines, so long as you have, or expect to gain a 2:1 degree (or equivalent). You’ll need to be passionate about the role HR plays in a successful organisation, and have excellent problem-solving and communication skills. You could also be willing to undertake CIPD study, if you haven’t embarked on this journey already.

This programme will involve placements across all areas, encompassing both operational and specialist HR and enabling you to gain exposure to areas such as HR Business Partnering, Reward, Talent, Learning, HR Policy, Employee Relations and Pensions.

You’ll also need to understand the HR agenda and its alignment to corporate priorities, so you’ll spend time with business leaders and managers from areas such as Retail, Finance, Risk, Operations and Global Businesses. This will enable you to fully understand the things that drive these areas of the business and how HR can add real value to them.

Like all other graduates, you'll start by attending our thorough induction programme. This will introduce you to the global Santander Group, and it's a great introduction to graduates in other parts of the business who may become valuable contacts later in your career.

During the HR Graduate Programme, you’ll receive a significant amount of training and development support, including structured training periods involving set work experiences, written and online learning packages, face-to-face training courses, and study for relevant qualifications.

After the initial training, you’ll also embark on a series of personal development modules, which will help you to focus on developing people and team skills – invaluable in your later career.

Finally, as you near the end of your programme, you might attend a career development course which should help you to identify your strengths and areas for development, and to plan your next steps forward. After your graduate programme, there’s a host of opportunities that could lead you into areas of specialism, including HR Business Partnering, Employee Reward or another area of HR expertise.