FAQs
Select a question:
If your question isn't answered here, feel free to email the Centrica graduate team or call us on 0845 600 1870.
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+Where will I be based?
Analyst, Customer Operations, HR and Marketing Programmes:
Placements 1 & 2
Initially, you will be placed at one of our many customer-facing offices around the country. In 2009 our first-year graduates were placed in:- Oxford
- Cardiff
- Leicester
- Edinburgh
- Leeds
- Manchester
- Uddingston
- Oldbury
After your initial few months, graduates will move to a role which is in line with their chosen stream. This may involve a move in location and so you will need to remain flexible to geographic mobility.
In the subsequent placements, as your career and development path is carved out, you may find that your subsequent roles are located in different locations and so you must remain flexible throughout the programme and throughout your career. At this point, you will be ready to take up a North American placement. This is dependent on the opportunities available, and you will need to go through an interview process to assess your suitability.
Information Systems Programmes:
You will be based in the south of England at either our UK headquarters in Windsor or Staines.
Finance Programme:
You will be based at one of our UK locations with international opportunities in Year 3.
Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical) Programme:
You will be based in Heysham, Barrow, Easington, King's Lynn, Barry, Roosecote or Morecombe.
Project Engineering, Geoscience and Petroleum Reservoir engineering Programmes:
You will be based in either Windsor or Aberdeen.
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+How flexible are you about location?
While Centrica aims to offer a choice of locations, all graduates should remain flexible with regards to placements.
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+How much will I be paid?
On the Analyst, Customer Operations, Human Resources, Marketing, IS and Engineering programmes you will receive a starting salary of £25,000, rising to over £30,000, dependent on continued exceptional performance.
On the three-year finance programme you will receive a salary of £25,000, rising to over £30,000, dependent on continued exceptional performance and on completion of either CIMA, ACCA or ACA professional qualifications.
Benefits:
- £2,100 signing-on bonus
- 23 days’ holiday
- Contributory pension scheme after three months’ employment
- British Gas discounts
- Life insurance
- Shopping discounts
- Cycle to work scheme
- Childcare vouchers scheme
In addition, the flexible benefits package is to the value of 3% of your annual base salary. You can choose to spend this on additional benefits of your choice.
Benefits available include:
- Increased holiday allowance to a maximum of five additional days
- Private medical insurance
- Private dental insurance
- Critical illness insurance
- Retail vouchers
- Magazine subscriptions
- Airport lounges
- Financial counselling
- Legal services
- Additional voluntary contributions to the pension scheme
- Cash allowance
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+When do I start?
The 2010 Graduate programme will start on 6 September 2010. Applications should be made as early as possible as we are running assessment centres from the end of January and we will close as soon as we have filled our opportunities.
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+What training and development will I be given?
Centrica is committed to providing a high level of training and development to all staff, not just to its graduates, but as a Centrica graduate you will receive extensive skills training, both within your placement and centrally with other graduates at core training events.
Centrica believes professional qualifications are vital for our functional specialists and so, where relevant, you will have the chance to study for professional qualifications.
Centrica has a well-established management talent review programme, which will provide you as senior managers of the future with all possible opportunities for professional development. This review programme focuses on the top 1,000 managers in Centrica, but also includes the graduates because it enables the promotion of career development for top performers across the Centrica group.
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+What level of support will I receive?
A buddy will be assigned to you as soon as you join; these are current graduates. They will be on hand to give you advice based on their experiences and help you to settle into your location and placement, enabling you to make a smooth transition into Centrica.
A Graduate programme manager assigned to your work area of business, will be responsible for overseeing your performance and development while you are on your placement. They will call you to welcome you to Centrica soon after you join and you will meet them on day one.
Your line manager will be your first point of contact in your placement. He or she will call you 6-8 weeks before you join to welcome you to the area of the business and discuss the role with you.
The central graduate team will be on hand to give you any further support you need during your tehn weeks with us.
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+Are there international opportunities?
We are an international company and we also run a graduate programme in Direct Energy in North America and so we may be able to offer international opportunities in the second year. In the past our graduates have been based in US, Canada, Germany and Nigeria. However, this is down to business need and can vary from year to year.
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+Can I defer for a year?
Unfortunately, Centrica cannot accept deferred applications. If you're taking a gap year to broaden your horizons through travel, work experience or voluntary work, we'd love to hear from you; please submit your application next year.
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+What will I be doing?
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+At what point can I start to specialise?
On the Analyst, Human Resources and Marketing programmes, you will specialise after the initial 3 months. Our aim is to develop future senior managers who achieve a thorough understanding of the operational aspects of our businesses, before developing a specialism. This is because Centrica believes our specialists are more valuable with an appreciation of customer service, commercial knowledge and business focus.
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+What is Centrica's plan for the next few years?
The markets in which Centrica operates are changing. As gas demand increases globally, UK Continental Shelf production is in decline and new sources of gas will be required to fill the supply gap. Gas prices in the UK have been on an upward trend and are being driven to higher, previously unseen levels. At the same time, it is now more challenging to secure fixed price gas through contracts to protect against wholesale price movements.
The implications are clear: the sourcing of gas is becoming a global business. Strategic infrastructure will become increasingly important. And because the market is changing, Centrica needs to evolve in order to remain competitive. Centrica needs to secure competitive gas and power for our downstream customer supply businesses by continuing with an ‘asset right’ approach that achieves the right blend of our own assets, long-term contracts and short-term trading.
Our strategy remains: to create value for our shareholders by deepening customer relationships, ensuring a competitive cost of supply and achieving operational efficiency by sharing knowledge and best practice. Within this context, our focus is now entirely on energy and related home services, in an international environment.
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+Why are you recruiting graduates?
Graduates who apply to us have already proved they are academically capable, and Centrica gives the opportunity to work in new environments, with different types of people in different roles.
Graduates provide Centrica with a fresh approach, facilitating change and identifying opportunities that may not be seen by other employees. This is an extremely dynamic organisation with a desire for growth and Centrica is looking for graduates with similar drive and ambition to take the company forward.
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+Why am I not able to submit a CV instead of filling out an application form?
Our application form has been designed to ensure that you have the opportunity to tell us about your education, work experience, personal interests and also for you to be able to give us more in-depth information and examples of when you have been able to demonstrate one of our core competencies. Unfortunately, we would be unable to extract the same information from a CV.
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+Concerned that the recruitment offer is not genuine?
Please be aware of fraudulent recruitment activity. Centrica will never offer a job or contract without first having gone through a detailed recruitment process which will involve at least one face to face meeting or assessment centre. If an offer looks fraudulent, it probably is. Offers coming from e-mail accounts which are not from the Centrica group such as .yahoo, .msn, .hotmail accounts are fraudulent. Do not share personal information with these accounts and report anything suspicious to careers@centrica.com.
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+Does Centrica support work visas?
Due to the nature of the role, the UK Border Agency's criteria for applications under Tier 2 of the Points Based System prevents Centrica from sponsoring working visas for candidates employed on the graduate scheme. Therefore, during the recruitment process you will be asked if you have/will have the right to work in the UK throughout the duration of your graduate programme.
If your application is successful, your appointment and continued employment with Centrica will be conditional upon you ensuring that you continue to have the right to work and carry out the proposed employment legally in the UK. Therefore it is important that you answer truthfully to all questions regarding your right to work in the UK as you will be unable to start employment until you have provided Centrica with satisfactory original evidence of your right to work and carry out the proposed employment legally in the UK. If at any time during your continued employment you are unable to comply with this requirement, then Centrica reserves the right to terminate your employment immediately, without notice.
