Matt Harrison

Trading

Job title: Events Manager
Joined: September 2004
Degree: BA Business Studies, Sheffield Hallam

My degree included a placement year which I did at ASDA. That convinced me to try for a place on the graduate scheme and I was lucky enough to go back to university with a firm offer. What won me over was the incredible variety of experience graduates at ASDA can get - which is really important if, like me, you don't have a fixed idea of what you ultimately want to do!

You complete three one-year placements on the Trading scheme. In my first year I was involved in a project to launch white goods into our stores. It was a really tough challenge, but it gave me excellent experience and exposure to lots of different areas of the business like Operations and Finance. Initially we trialled white goods in six stores and then, because they took off so well, the business model my manager and I developed is still operational in store today.

Now I'm well into my second placement as an Events Manager. Basically I organise promotions for big events - anything from Mothers Day and Hallowe'en to the World Cup, the biggest so far. This means working with people across the whole organisation, looking at the overall strategy for each event, and making sure everything happens as and when it should. I'm not sure yet what my next role will be, but it could well be in buying.

The high point so far has to be organising an event involving Pele. It was my job to brief him and plan his time during an event to launch the ASDA World Cup offer to colleagues. This included a book signing, a personal meet and greet and some time on stage to answer questions. As a big football fan it was something I will never forget.